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A Milliner Learning Straw Sewing 



RUSSELL SAGE 
FOUNDATION 



WORKING GIRLS 
IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

A STATISTICAL STUDY 



BY 

MARY VAN KLEECK 

SECRETARY COMMITTEE ON WOMEN's WORK 
RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION 



NEW YORK 

SURVEY ASSOCIATES, INC. 

MCMXIV 



MonogmP" 






Copyright, 19 14, by 
The Russell Sage Foundation 



NOV 23 1914 



THE TROW PR£83 
NEW YORK 



'CI,A388656 



kjo 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

List of Illustrations v 

List of Tables vii 

Introduction i 

I. Evening Schools and the Girls Who Attend Them lo 

II. Occupations of Girls Who Go to Night School 38 

III. Daily Hours of Labor 61 

IV. Schooling of Wage-earning Girls .... 83 

V. Relation of the Evening Schools to Vocational 

Training 115 

VI. Irregular Attendance in Evening Classes . . 142 

VII. Some Problems of Industrial Education . . 168 

APPENDICES 
I. Tables 187 

1 1 . Memorandum Regarding a System of Evening School 

Records 212 

III. Investigation of Evening School Pupils in Phila- 
delphia 228 

Index 233 



111 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
Photographs by Lewis W. Hine 

VACINO 
PAQK 

A Milliner Learning Straw Sewing . . Frontispiece 

Learning to Make Their Own Hats 14 

A Class in Home Dressmaking 14 

Studying "Common Branches" 30 

Cooking Class 30 

Learning Bonnaz Embroidery 48 

Stenographers Practicing Speed 72 

Recreation for Juniors in Evening School .... 72 

Sewing Class 92 

In The Pattern Drafting Class no 

Pattern Drafting 120 

Waist Draping for Dressmakers 1 20 

Machine Operating 132 

Teacher Instructing in Straw Sewing 132 

A Button Sewer by Day 148 

Draping a Chiffon Waist 160 

Sews Linings in Hat Factory by Day . . . .174 



LIST OF TABLES 

TABLE PA.GE 

1. Public evening schools included in the investigation, 

registration, and average attendance of women in 
these schools during the regular term, and number 
of women for whom records were tabulated, by 
location and type of school . . . . .7 

2. Nativity of women attending public evening schools 21 

3. Nativity of fathers of women attending public even- 

ing schools 22 

4. Ages of women attending public evening schools . 29 

5. Reasons given by 271 women for enrolling in public 

evening schools 31 

6. Daily occupations of women attending public even- 

ing schools, by principal occupational groups . -35 

7. Occupations of women attending public evening 

schools, employed in manufacturing and me- 
chanical pursuits, by main groups of occupations . 49 

8. Occupations of women attending public evening 

schools and employed in trade and transportation . 5 1 

9. Principal occupations in manufacturing and mechan- 

ical pursuits, ranked according to number of 
women employed, for women attending public 
evening schools, 1910-1911, and for all women in 
New York City in 1900 55 

10. Normal daily hours of work of women attending 
public evening schools, employed in manufacturing 
and mechanical pursuits and in trade and trans- 
portation . . . . . . . 68 

vii 



LIST OF TABLES 

TABLB PA.(3B 

11. Hours of beginning and leaving work in manufactur- 

ing and mechanical pursuits and in trade and 
transportation, for women attending public even- 
ing schools 70 

12. Normal daily hours of work for girls under 16 years of 

age attending public evening schools, employed in 
selected occupations in trade and transportation . 75 

13. Normal daily hours of work of girls under 16 years of 

age attending public evening schools, employed 
in selected occupations in manufacturing and 
mechanical pursuits 77 

14. Day schools previously attended at any time by 

women attending public evening schools, by prin- 
cipal occupational groups 86 

15. Last day school attended by women attending 

public evening schools, by principal occupational 
groups 89 

16. Proportion of women attending public evening 

schools, whose only previous day school attend- 
ance was in New York public schools, by principal 
occupational groups 90 

17. Grade at leaving school for women attending public 

evening schools, who last attended day school in a 
New York public school, by principal occupational 
groups 94 

18. Grade at leaving school for women attending public 

evening schools, who last attended day school in a 
New York public school, employed in five selected 
manufacturing pursuits 96 

19. Progress made in elementary school by women at- 

tending public evening schools, who had attended 
New York public schools only, by principal 
occupational groups 99 

20. Years of attendance at day school for women attend- 

ing public evening schools, by principal occupa- 
tional groups loi 

viii 



LIST OF TABLES 

TABLE PAGB 

2 1 . Age at leaving day school of women attending public 

evening schools, by principal occupational groups 102 

22. Reasons for leaving day school before the age of six- 

teen, for 108 girls attending public evening schools 109 

23. Daily occtipations of women attending evening 

classes in the Manhattan Trade School by 
classes. New York City, 19 13 130 

24. Ages of women attending evening classes in the 

Manhattan Trade School, New York City, 191 3 . 133 

25. Average weekly wages, by ages, of women attending 

evening classes in the Manhattan Trade School, 
New York City, 191 3 134 

26. Women on register in the year, and attendance on 

first school night of each month, in 15 public 
elementary evening schools 151 

27. Months in which women attending public evening 

schools dropped out 1 54 

28. Reasons given by 86 women for leaving public even- 

ing schools 157 

29. Evenings in which schools were in session each 

month, and average number of evenings of 
attendance per woman, for 1,233 women attending 
evening high schools and 2,935 women attending 
evening elementary schools 163 

APPENDIX I 

A. Women attending public evening schools, who were 

included in this investigation, and women for 
whom information is presented in the different 
tables 187 

B. Public evening schools included in the investigation, 

registration, and average attendance of women in 
these schools during the regular term, and number 
of women for whom records were tabulated by 
location and type of school 190 

ix 



LIST OF TABLES 

TABLE PAGE 

C. Nativity of fathers of women attending public even- 

ing schools, for Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, 
and Long Island City, and for each school in Man- 
hattan and the Bronx 192 

D. Industries of women attending public evening schools 

employed in manufacturing and mechanical pur- 
suits, by type of school, for Manhattan and the 
Bronx, and for Brooklyn and Long Island City . 193 

E. Length of noon recess for women attending public 

evening schools employed in manufacturing and 
mechanical pursuits and in trade and transporta- 
tion 196 

F. Normal daily hours of work of women attending 

public evening schools and employed in manufac- 
turing and mechanical pursuits, by main groups of 
occupations 197 

G. Ages of women attending public evening schools, by 

principal occupational groups and by selected occu- 
pations 198 

H. Age at leaving day school of women attending public 
evening schools, employed in manufacturing and 
mechanical pursuits, by main groups of occupations 199 

I. Years of attendance at high school for women attend- 
ing public evening schools, who last attended day 
school in New York public high schools, by prin- 
cipal occupational groups 200 

J. Ages, nativity, schooling, and hours of employment 
by selected occupations in trade and transporta- 
tion and in manufacturing and mechanical pur- 
suits, of women attending public evening schools . 201 

K. Grade at leaving school, by main groups of occupa- 
tions in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits 
and by selected occupations for women attending 
public evening schools, who last attended day 

1 . school in a New York public school . . . 207 



LIST OF TABLES 

TABLB PAGB 

L. Months in which 1,127 women attending public even- 
ing high schools dropped out, by principal occupa- 
tional groups and by ages 209 

M. Months in which 973 women attending four public 
evening elementary schools dropped out, by 
principal occupational groups and by ages, Man- 
hattan Borough 210 

N. Months in which 1,993 women attending 13 public 
evening elementary schools dropped out, by prin- 
cipal occupational groups and by ages, Manhattan 
Borough 211 



INTRODUCTION 

IN the hope of supplying facts to clarify public 
thinking and to point the way toward the 
solution of certain industrial problems, the 
Russell Sage Foundation has undertaken to make a 
series of type-studies of the occupations of women 
in New York. The results of two of these studies 
have already been published under the titles 
Women in the Bookbinding Trade, and Artificial 
Flower Makers.* These volumes represent detailed 
inquiries into the conditions of women's work in 
two distinct trades. 

The present study, that of Working Girls in 
Public Evening Schools, is of a different character. 
It is not an intensive investigation of girls in any 
one occupation, but an extensive view of the work- 
ers in the many fields of employment represented 
among the women who attend evening school. As 
a study of wage-earning women who are seeking 
to supplement an inadequate education, the facts 
secured relate especially to the problems of indus- 
trial training. 

Every year from autumn until spring more than 
a hundred public school buildings in New York 

*Van Kleeck, Mary: Women in the Bookbinding Trade. Arti- 
ficial Flower Makers. Russell Sage Foundation Publications. New 
York, Survey Associates, 1913. 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

are open four nights a week to pupils of various 
ages, from fourteen to seventy or older, who can not 
attend day school. In the year 1910-11, when 
this investigation was made, 33 of these public 
night schools were organized for women only, 
and 42 others admitted both men and women.* 
Nearly 50,000 women, chiefly wage-earners, were 
enrolled in the classes, some of whom stayed only 
one night, while some continued more or less 
regularly throughout the term.f Owing to irregular 
attendance and varying dates of entrance, the 
number present on any one night is much smaller 
than the enrollment for the year. Nevertheless, 
in no other public institution in New York, as far 
as we know, would it be possible to reach simul- 
taneously so large a group of wage-earning women 
as are to be found in these class rooms. 

We believed that a record of the occupations of 
a fair proportion of these women and the correla- 
tion of the data secured with facts about their 
ages, nationality, hours of labor, and previous 
schooling, would afford a foundation for further 
intensive study. We believed, furthermore, that 
such an investigation would be useful in demon- 
strating the possible value of the evening schools as 
experiment stations in education. Similar types of 
pupils and the same groups of occupations would 

* Superintendent of Schools, New York City. Thirteenth Annual 
Report, 1910-11. Report on Evening Schools for the Year Ending 
July 31, 191 1, pp. 5-6. 

t Ibid. Compiled from Table I, pp. 20-24. Detailed statement. 
Enrollment of Women and Girls. 



INTRODUCTION 

probably be represented in the day continuation 
schools, whose development is now being advocated 
as part of a system of industrial training. At 
present, few seem to realize how much the public 
evening schools have to offer in experience and 
facts as a basis for planning new types of industrial 
courses. 

The method of investigation was to distribute 
card records containing questions to be answered 
in writing by women in each class room in the 
schools selected.* This was done in the autumn of 
19 10, under the direction of the teachers, after 
members of our staff had visited each school and 
fully explained the plan to the principal. The 
questions asked are shown on the record card which 
is reproduced in the appendix. f They included 
such personal items as age, country of birth, and 
number of years in the United States, detailed 
information about schools attended, and a care- 
fully planned set of questions designed to reveal 
that elusive fact — the actual occupation of a work- 
er in our complex industrial system. 

For several reasons, no questions were asked 
about wages. We feared that if we asked how 
much they earned the girls might raise objections 
which would jeopardize the whole inquiry, since 
the wage received is considered by many to be 
a strictly personal matter. Moreover, it seemed 
doubtful whether data on this point would be 

* See p. 6, for statement of number of schools included, 
t For facsimile of card record see Appendix, p. 186. 

3 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

accurate, unless the filling of the records could be 
supervised by an investigator familiar with all 
the intricacies of wage statistics. 

The questions on the cards were answered by 
13,737 girls. Some preliminary experimenting 
had been necessary to make a schedule which 
would yield reliable information. Realizing the 
difficulties involved in the method of investigation 
pursued, — the risk of misinterpretation or misunder- 
standing on the part of the many thousands who in 
the class rooms of nearly 50 different school build- 
ings would be called upon to write their answers, — 
we determined to test the questions thoroughly 
before having the cards printed. Through the co- 
operation of several leaders of girls' clubs in social 
settlements, typewritten schedules were distributed 
at club meetings. More than a hundred were 
returned, and through an analysis of the answers a 
card record was gradually evolved so simple in 
form that in spite of the brief schooling of many of 
the pupils who answered the questions 13,141 of 
the 13,737 records secured were accurate and 
complete enough for tabulation. They were 
carefully read to discover discrepancies or errors, 
and were classified first by schools, and then by 
large occupational groups. 

For reasons already suggested, it is not easy to 
determine just how large a proportion this group 
of 13,000 women forms of the total number in 
attendance during the year in the schools included 
in the investigation. The annual report of the 

4 



INTRODUCTION 

city superintendent of schools for that year states 
for each evening school the enrollment, the 
register, and the average attendance. Every 
prospective student who records her application 
for entrance into an evening class is counted 
among the number "enrolled." The enrollment 
of women in 1910-11, as previously noted, was 
nearly 50,000. Some of these never appeared in 
a class room. The word "register" is used for 
the number who actually attend any length of 
time, whether their stay be one night or five 
months. The "average attendance" is com- 
puted by adding together the number of pupils 
actually present each evening throughout the 
school year, and dividing by the number of 
evenings the schools are open. None of these 
figures shows the actual attendance at any given 
date.* 

Furthermore, although in our investigation we 
made an effort at first to have all the records filled 
on the same day, conditions in the different schools 
made it impossible to carry out this plan. The 
dates on the record cards show that although all 
were filled during the autumn, the work was done 
on different evenings in September, October, and 
November. In some instances blank records were 
kept in the principal's office to be filled from time 
to time by girls who entered later in the term. 
Because of these variations and because of the 

* For further discussion of average register and attendance, see 
pp. 142 ff. 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

well-known irregularity of attendance in evening 
classes, a comparison of the number of records 
secured with the figures given in the annual report 
of the superintendent of schools for "average 
attendance" or "register/* throws more light on 
evening school problems than on the scope of this 
investigation. Nevertheless, Table i is presented 
to show the number of women registered, the 
average attendance, and the number who filled 
records in the schools included in the inquiry. 

Thus, the total register of women in the schools 
included in the investigation in the winter of 1910- 
1 1 was 39,242, while the average attendance was 
15,665. The number of women filling record 
cards used in the tabulation was 13,141, 33 per 
cent of the total register, but 84 per cent of the 
average attendance. With the exception of the 
Long Island City Trade School, the only one in- 
vestigated in the borough of Queens, the inquiry 
was confined to the three boroughs of Manhattan, 
the Bronx, and Brooklyn, and covered all evening 
schools in these boroughs except two elementary 
schools in very remote sections of Brooklyn and 
three located far uptown in the Bronx. The con- 
ditions in these latter districts, as in Queens and 
Richmond, differ markedly from those of the more 
congested sections of the city.* 

In the spring of 191 1 our investigators returned 
to most of the schools in Manhattan to secure 

* For list of schools investigated, register, average attendance, and 
number of record cards secured in each school, see Appendix I, Table 
B, p. 190. 

6 



INTRODUCTION 



TABLE 1.— PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS INCLUDED IN 
THE INVESTIGATION, REGISTRATION, AND AVERAGE 
ATTENDANCE OF WOMEN IN THESE SCHOOLS DUR- 
ING THE REGULAR TERM. AND NUMBER OF 
WOMEN FOR WHOM RECORDS WERE TAB- 
ULATED, BY LOCATION AND TYPE OF 
SCHOOL^ 





SCHOOLS INCLUDED IN THE 
INVESTIGATION 


Women 
for whom 

records 
were tab- 
ulated 


Location and type 
of school 


Number 


Register 

of 
women 


Average 
attend- 
ance of 
women 


Manhattan and the Bronx: 
High and trade schools . 
Elementary schools. 


4 

21 


5.776*^ 
19.388 


2,330 
7.733 


2,587 
5,059 


Total .... 


25 


25,164 


10,063 


7.646 


Brooklyn and Long Island 
City: 
High and trade schools . 
Elementary schools. 


5 
i8 


4.134*" 
9.944 


•.599 
4.003 


2.275 
3,220 


Total .... 


23 


14,078 


5,602 


5.495 


AH schools: 

High and trade schools . 
Elementary schools. 


9 
39 


9,910 
29.332 


3.929 
1 1,736 


4,862 
8.279 


Total .... 


48 


39.242 


15,665 


13,141 



^Data appear in detail in Appendix I, Table B, p. 190. 

^ In one mixed high school the registration of women was not 
stated separately from that of men. The number of women enrolled 
has been substituted, as there is usually no material difference 
between the two sets of figures. 

'^The number of women registered was not available for two 
mixed trade schools. In one case, the number of women enrolled 
was used in place of the number registered, and in the other, the 
number of women registered was estimated by assuming that this 
number bore the same relation to the total register that the average 
attendance of women bore to the total average attendance. 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

records of the length of attendance of each girl 
who had filled out a card in the preceding autumn. 
This part of the work was time-consuming, as in 
the majority of schools it was necessary to copy 
the facts about each girl from teachers' roll books, 
which offered the material in less convenient form 
than does the card system since introduced.* 

To verify the data on the card records, a group 
of 260 of the girls included in the study were inter- 
viewed at their homes during the spring and 
summer of 191 1. The total number of visits to 
homes was 331. In connection with other industrial 
studies made by the same investigators many more 
of these girls have been visited, some of them 
during the spring of 191 3. The results of these 
interviews have been most satisfactory in corrobo- 
rating the information given in writing on the 
original cards. f 

The investigation in the schools was made pos- 
sible through the courteous co-operation of Dr. 
John H. Haaren, associate city superintendent in 
charge of evening schools, to whom our thanks are 
due. To the principals and teachers we are greatly 
indebted for the time given to supervising pupils 
who answered the questions. We wish to express 

* The total number of visits made to the schools, at this time and 
in the preceding autumn, was 178. As a matter of fact, this figure is 
an understatement, since in securing records of attendance three or 
four members of the staff went together in order to facilitate the 
clerical work. Counting each person's visit as one, the total number 
was 247. 

t The facts about the evening classes in the Manhattan Trade 
School for Girls, discussed in Chapter V, were secured in the spring 
of 1913 at the beginning of an interesting experiment in that school. 

8 



INTRODUCTION 

appreciation also to Dr. Albert Shiels who be- 
came district superintendent in charge of evening 
schools the year following our investigation, and 
who, from time to time, has supplied us with in- 
formation needed in the preparation of these chap- 
ters. 

The members of the staff who took part in the 
field work were Miss Louise C. Odencrantz, Miss 
Alice P. Barrows, and Miss Elizabeth L. Meigs. 
The statistical work, which is so important a part 
of this book, was done under the direction of Miss 
Odencrantz. 

In reading the chapters which follow, it should 
be remembered that the subject of investigation 
was not the evening schools and their methods, 
but the occupations of the girls and women attend- 
ing them. We desire to be judged not as school 
investigators, but as students of the industrial 
problems represented in a particular group of 
wage-earning girls who were enrolled for one year 
in evening classes of the New York public school 
system. 



CHAPTER I 

EVENING SCHOOLS AND THE GIRLS 
WHO ATTEND THEM 

THE gay throngs of children who march mer- 
rily out from the school buildings in the 
afternoon afford no more inspiring sight 
than the more restrained and sober groups of older 
pupils who enter the same class rooms in the even- 
ing. Natives of Russia, Croatia, Italy, or Tur- 
key who are eager to learn English; youngsters 
who have left day school before completing even 
the elementary grades; grown men and women 
who never went to school in their childhood; 
ambitious students preparing for examinations for 
civil service appointments, for state regents' di- 
plomas, or for admission to colleges or technical 
schools; boys who want practice in carpentry or 
metal work, and girls who wish to make their own 
hats or dresses, — all come with their varied needs 
and aspirations in search of more education.* 
Some of them are desperately in earnest, eager for 
every crumb of knowledge, making tremendous 
sacrifices of strength to come every night from 

* Attendance in public evening schools in New York is voluntary 
for all except boys under sixteen who have left school before graduat- 
ing from the grammar grades; for them attendance is compulsory. 
See also footnote, p. 74. 

ID 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

Monday to Thursday and every week from au- 
tumn until spring,* however exhausted they may 
be after the day's work in shop or factory. Among 
others ambition shows less persistence and the 
good resolution which led them to register perishes 
prematurely. Some have wandered into the school 
building without any very serious purpose or defi- 
nite aim in view, and unless the teacher can arouse 
their interest, they join the ranks of the irregular 
attendants, who are the despair of the school 
authorities. Nevertheless, whether they be eager 
or indifferent, serious or frivolous, studious or 
lazy in their school work, they are representative 
of the wage-earners of the community, and, as 
such, their ambitions and their hopes present to 
educators a variety of problems as absorbing in 
interest as they are vital in importance. 

The method of teaching English composition to 
a child in the seventh grade has been more care- 
fully studied and standardized than has that of 
giving belated instruction in spelling and writing 
to a woman whose experience in life has already 
taught her many things beyond the ken of school 
children. Consider, for example, the married 
woman enrolled in an English class, who, besides 
serving as cook and housekeeper, is enabled by her 
skill in gold-leaf laying to support herself and her 

* In evening elementary schools the term begins the first Mon- 
day in October and continues for 90 evenings until March or early 
April, according to the place of Easter on the calendar. In evening 
high schools and trade schools the session lasts 120 evenings, from 
the third Monday in September until May. Summer classes in Eng- 
lish for foreigners are a recent innovation. 

I I 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

sick husband. Instruction in the EngHsh language 
offered an Italian girl who began work packing 
olives the day after she landed in New York, in- 
volves more than a lesson in words, phrases, and 
grammatical construction. It should include an 
interpretation of the ways and thoughts of a new 
land to a pupil who has had no opportunity to 
fmd out how much of the United States lies outside 
of Canal Street. When the class confronting the 
English teacher includes not only Italian olive 
packers, but Hungarian vest makers, Bohemian 
cigar makers, and Russian milliners and shirt- 
waist makers, the task of giving them a common 
voice and a common understanding of their new 
environment demands the insight of a prophet. 

Or again, the young American girl whose ways of 
thinking were more or less clear to the seventh 
grade teacher in day school last year has acquired a 
different point of view now that she has become a 
wage-earner. Instinctively she demands that the 
change which new experiences have wrought in her 
shall be recognized when she joins a class in evening 
school. But perhaps most difficult of all the prob- 
lems encountered by teachers in evening schools 
is the restless and undirected seeking after some 
kind of training that shall enable the wage-earner 
to fmd a better job, or to get ahead in the one he 
or she now has. Thus, not only previous schooling, 
but age, nationality, and occupation, are important 
factors in determining the needs of evening school 
pupils. 

12 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 
ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS AND COURSES OFFERED 

It is on the basis of the amount of the pupils' 
previous education that the regular evening schools 
at present are distinguished as "elementary'* or 
** high." In addition, there are the evening " trade" 
schools, this term applying to schools of elementary 
grade in which trade courses are oflFered. For ad- 
mission to an evening high school it is necessary 
to be a graduate of an elementary school or to 
have an equivalent preparation. In evening ele- 
mentary schools no preparation other than the 
wish to attend is required, and the diversity of 
mental equipment of the pupils is, therefore, wide.* 
An effort is made, however, in forming classes, to 
group together those whose previous training is 
somewhat similar, especially in the case of boys or 
girls under sixteen who left day school before 
graduating. They are enrolled in the classes for 
instruction in what are known as "common 
branches." For boys under sixteen who have not 
finished the elementary grades, the law, as we 
have seen, requires this kind of instruction. 

In general, the courses offered vary according 
to the demands of the pupils in the different 
schools. The evening high school curriculum in- 
cludes such academic subjects as languages and 
science; commercial courses, like stenography, 
typewriting, bookkeeping, and commercial law; 

* The schooling of the girls investigated will be discussed in Chap- 
ter IV. 

13 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

and, for women, courses in domestic arts and 
sciences. 

In the evening trade schools a greater variety 
of courses is offered to men than to women. A 
young man may have an opportunity to enter a 
class in blacksmithing, cabinet making, carpentry 
and joinery, electric engineering, electrical installa- 
tion, gas engine construction, pattern making, 
plumbing, printing, or steam engineering. For 
women, the opportunities in trade training are 
chiefly limited to millinery, dressmaking, and 
costume designing, although there is manifest a 
growing desire on the part of school authorities 
to extend the industrial courses for women to other 
occupations.* 

In the evening elementary schools the subjects 
taught include English to foreigners, the ''common 
branches," and special subjects similar to those 
taught in the high schools but planned for students 
whose previous training would not be sufficient for 
admission to high school. These courses include 
shop work, cooking, dressmaking, millinery, draw- 
ing, stenography, typewriting, and bookkeeping. 
Some of these, as, for example, stenography, have 
been introduced into certain elementary schools, 
not because they can be taught satisfactorily to 

* In the autumn of 19 13, the New York Evening School of In- 
dustrial Art was opened to give "courses for men and women engaged 
in occupations involving the adaptation of art to industries." (Board 
of Education, New York. Report of the President, January, 1914, 
p. 21.) The courses offered included decoration, drawing, book 
illustration, and designing of costumes, jewelry, stained glass, tex- 
tiles, wall paper, wood work, and plastic work. 

J4 




Learning to Make Their Own Hats 




A Class in Home Dressmaking 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

pupils who have never completed the elementary 
grades, but because no evening high school is open 
in the neighborhood to meet the demand from 
pupils who have the necessary preparation. 

The high schools were far apart, and many who 
would have been eligible for attendance in them 
were obliged to be content with the nearest elemen- 
tary school, or to forego instruction in the evening.* 
In 1910-1 1 the Bronx had one evening high school 
open to men and women, Queens one, and Staten 
Island one. In Brooklyn there were three for 
women only and one mixed school to which women 
were admitted. Three for women only were in 
Manhattan, one at 114th Street and Seventh 
Avenue, one in Forty-first Street near Third 
Avenue, and one on the lower East Side, on the 
corner of Hester and Essex streets. The evening 
elementary schools were much more numerous. 

NATIONALITIES IN THE SCHOOLS 

The location of the evening schools is determined 
primarily by the character of the population in 
different sections of the city and the extent to 
which the people living in the neighborhood make 

* The need for a wider distribution of evening high schools is recog- 
nized in the report on evening schools for the year ending July 31, 
1912, and it is recommended "that evening high school 'annexes' 
consisting of two or more first-year classes be established in elemen- 
tary evening school buildings in sections of the city too far removed 
from the main building, that such classes maintain an organization 
independent of the elementary school, and, if the attendance allows, 
continue sessions for the full period of 120 evenings." Superinten- 
dent of Schools, New York City. Fourteenth Annual Report, 191 1- 
12. Report on Evening Schools for the Year Ending July 31, 1912, 
p. 44. 

15 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

use of the schools. The very atmosphere of the 
streets changes as you walk from one district to 
another. 

Thus, in the borough of Manhattan, on the West 
Side between Fifty-ninth Street and Washington 
Heights, a district largely inhabited by prosperous 
residents, the main body of working women are 
domestic servants whose hours of service do not 
permit them to be " out " four nights a week. Only 
two evening schools for women were located in this 
district, one at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue 
and Ninety-third Street, the other at St. Nicholas 
Avenue and 127th Street. Dark desertion at night 
characterizes certain blocks on the lower West 
Side, where the streets are lined with closed ware- 
houses and dingy tenements which were once 
fashionable private residences. In block after 
block one fmds stillness and emptiness, accentu- 
ated by the footfalls of an occasional passerby. 
Below Fourteenth Street on the lower West Side, 
but two small schools were found. One was in an 
Italian neighborhood and its attendance suffered 
from the Italian custom of keeping the unmarried 
daughters at home in the evening. The other 
stood but a stone's throw from Trinity church and 
Wall Street, at the corner of Albany, Washington, 
and Carlisle streets, in a district peopled by hetero- 
geneous groups of Syrians, Greeks, Turks, and 
Egyptians, with a mixture of various other na- 
tionalities. 

On the lower East Side, beyond the Bowery, 

16 




Public Evening Schools for Women in the Borough of 
Manhattan, 1910-11 

The dots represent evening elementary schools and the triangles, 
evening high schools. 

17 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

in contrast, the streets at night are ablaze with 
light and gay with activity. We seem here to 
be in another city. Open shops line the way; 
noisy voices of push-cart peddlers cry their wares; 
and men, women, and babies crowd the sidewalk. 
In this neighborhood the evening schools flour- 
ish. Of the 50,000 girls and women enrolled in 
all the schools of the Greater City in the season 
of, 1910-11, nearly 8,000 were in schools south 
of Houston Street and east of Broadway. Many 
of the pupils in these schools were Jews, whose 
desire for scholarship and eagerness for economic 
advancement bring them to the night schools in 
large numbers. 

No two schools are alike in racial composition. 
It is these contrasts in nationality, with all the 
differences that they imply in custom, in tradition, 
in ideals of education, and early school training, 
which make the public school system of New York 
a federation of almost separate educational units 
instead of a unified, homogeneous institution. In 
the evening school on the corner of Lexington 
Avenue and io6th Street, only about one in ten 
of the girls investigated* were of native parentage, 
while nearly half were daughters of Russians. In 
contrast with this was an elementary school on 
West Twenty-fourth Street, in which only one of 
the 247 girls who answered our questions reported 
that father was born in Russia, while 82 fathers 
were of native and 103 of Irish or English parent- 

* Appendix I, Table C, Public School No. 72, p. 192. 

18 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

age. Or again, the proportion of girls of native- 
born parentage varied from 1.6 per cent in the 
evening high school on the lower East Side to 27 
per cent in the high school in East Forty-first 
Street; and from 5.3 per cent in an elementary 
school in an ItaHan neighborhood* to 71 per cent 
in one in West Forty-sixth Street in the midst of 
a Negro population. 

Naturally, the classes in English for foreigners 
contain only pupils of foreign birth, and here the 
greatest diversity of nationalities is found. Many 
have found their way to the schools within a few 
weeks of their arrival. But it is not only these 
classes that are attended by pupils of foreign 
birth. Our records show that many countries are 
represented, also, in classes in which all the pupils 
must necessarily be able to understand and speak 
the language of this country. 

It was with the English-speaking girls, whether 
native or foreign born, that our investigation was 
primarily concerned, since the method of investiga- 
tion was to secure written answers in English to 
questions, and the newly arrived immigrants were 
not generally able to meet this test. In some cases, 
however, the teachers of the non-English-speaking 
classes filled out the cards for their pupils, and in 
certain of the more advanced classes in the foreign 
department our record cards were welcomed as an 
opportunity for presenting an interesting lesson 
in English. Therefore, it has been difficult in our 

* Public School No. 23, Mulberry and Bayard streets. 

19 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

inquiry to draw a hard and fast line between the 
foreign department, which we had intended to 
exclude, and the classes which predominated in our 
inquiry. In the great majority of cases, however, 
the women who filled our records could both 
speak and write English. 

Thus, since not many of the pupils in the classes 
for recent immigrants were included, our informa- 
tion regarding nationality does not represent the 
whole group of women who attend evening schools. 
We were aiming rather to get a picture of the work- 
ing girls who had either been born here, or had been 
here long enough to be fairly representative of 
American working conditions, and whose desire 
for instruction in evening classes was significant in 
its relation to the problem of industrial education. 
Table 2 shows the birthplaces of this group of 
girls in the evening schools. 

The majority, 68 per cent, were born in the 
United States. The next largest group, 16 per 
cent, were Russians, with 5.1 per cent from Austria- 
Hungary. Among the Russian-born pupils were 
Lithuanians, Ruthenians, Poles, and many Jews. 
A large proportion of the girls who are listed 
as having been born in Austria and Germany 
were Polish or Jewish. The small group of other 
nationalities includes Canadians, French, Span- 
iards, Greeks, Turks, and Syrians. Some of 
these foreign-born women had been attending the 
evening schools for several years. They began 
in the classes in English, and then, after learning 

20 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

TABLE 2.— NATIVITY OF WOMEN ATTENDING PUBLIC 
EVENING SCHOOLS a 





WOMEN 


BORN AS 


Country of birth 


SPECIFIED 




Number 


Per cent 


United States 


8,907 


68.2 


Russia 










2,034 


15.6 


Austria-Hungary b 












660 


5» 


Germany 












346 


2.6 


Italv 












214 


1.6 


Ireland . 












194 


1-5 


Great Britain 












167 


1.3 


Roumania 












160 


1 .2 


Scandinavia . 












112 


•9 


Other countries 










256 


2.0 


Total 


13,050 = 


100. 



^ Data for selected occupations in trade and transportation and 
in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits are given in Appendix I, 
Table J, p. 201. 

b Includes Bohemia, 

*^0f the 13,141 women included in the study, 91 did not supply 
information. 



the language, advanced to other courses— milHnery 
or dressmaking, grammar and arithmetic, or even 
science or Hterature in the high schools. In some 
instances they had had schooling in their native 
land representing more than the equivalent of our 
high school courses. 

Racial traits persist for more than one genera- 
tion, and thus it is that we have in the evening 
schools more of Germany, or Italy, or Russia than 
the statistics quoted in Table 2 would indicate, 

21 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

since many of the American-born girls are the 
children of foreign parents. Table 3 shows the 
birthplaces of the fathers of the girls investigated. 

TABLE 3.— NATIVITY OF FATHERS OF WOMEN ATTEND- 
ING PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS* 



Country of birth 



WOMEN WITH FATHERS 
BORN AS SPECIFIED 




Russia 

United States 
Germany 
Ireland 

Austria-Hungary b . 
Great Britain 
Italy 

Scandinavia . 
Roumania 
Other countries 

Total 



* Data appear for each school in Appendix I, Table C, p. 192. 

^Includes Bohemia. 

*^Of the 13,141 women included in the study, 373 did not supply 
information. 



The United States occupies a less prominent 
place in this table than in that showing the birth- 
places of the girls themselves. Only 23 per cent 
of these evening school girls had fathers who were 
born in this country, while 23 per cent were of 
Russian parentage, 17 per cent German, and 11 
per cent Irish. The birthplaces of the fathers of 1 1 
per cent were in Austria-Hungary. The daughters 

22 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

of Italians number only 3.8 per cent, although in 
the general population their rank is much higher. 

The principal of one of the evening schools on 
the lower East Side told of the inspiration she had 
gained from the thoughtful and earnest foreign 
girls who came to the classes there. A number 
were alone in this country, meeting the new con- 
ditions here independently and with wonderful 
courage. The preceding year many of them had 
been leaders in the big strike of shirtwaist makers, 
but no less important cause could keep them away 
from class any night in the term. When they 
had to work overtime in the factories they would 
come to school straight from work without any 
dinner. Then they would go home and do their 
laundry work late at night — the only time when the 
families with whom they boarded would give them 
the use of the washtubs. Even after that task 
the flower or feather makers would spend several 
hours working on flowers or feathers brought 
home from the factory. Most of these were 
Jewish girls from Russia, or Austria, or Germany, 
eager to learn all they could about America ; keen 
and independent in judgment; and withal, ready 
to make sacrifices not for themselves alone but 
for their fellow- workers, to improve the conditions 
in their trades. 

One of the most thoughtful of these women 
students in the evening high schools was a young 
Russian milliner who had been in this country six 
years. She had been observing American condi- 

23 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

tions and American characteristics as she had seen 
them in the wholesale millinery shops, in the 
evening schools, in theaters, and on the streets. 
Her conversation with the investigator who went 
to talk with her about the millinery trade covered 
many subjects, — socialism, woman's rights, trade 
unions, Bernard Shaw, the drama in America, the 
school system, and Russian versus American 
women. She had been an ardent worker in a little 
band of milliners who had tried to organize a 
union, but she had given it up as a hopeless task. 

"It took time that we might spend on a book, 
or studying, or going to the theater. And besides, 
it's no use trying to organize the American women. 
They don't care about anything but making dates. 
It's all men and dances, and they don't care about 
organizing because they expect to get married and 
stop working. It's no use talking to them. When 
you begin on unions they call you a Socialist, and 
that ends it; or if you talk about woman's suffrage, 
they laugh at you. Why should they laugh?" 

She would like to go home to see her parents in 
Russia, she said. " But I don't think I should want 
to stay. There is something fascinating about 
America. But they are not thinkers here. It's all 
money. They don't think — but then not many 
people do in any country. American women are 
not disturbed enough. You have to be disturbed 
to think. Russian women seem to me to be the 
finest in the world, and it is because things have 
been hard for them." 

24 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

The Italians who find their way into the evening 
schools are those who have acquired a point of 
view quite different from that of their nation. For 
an Italian girl to be away from home at night un- 
attended is to oppose custom and to run the risk of 
unpleasant gossip in the neighborhood, even though 
she does not thereby incur the disapproval of her 
family. Furthermore, the leisure time of the wage- 
earning Italian girl must usually be spent in some 
home occupation adding directly or indirectly to 
the family income, in preparation for the time when 
she shall be married and require a dot. The object 
of ItaHan parents is to marry their daughters well 
and young, and a marriage portion increases the 
likelihood of their attaining both these objects. 
Many a time has one of our investigators met with 
the kindly and courteous, but pitying, comments of 
Italian men and women who have marveled at her 
cheerfulness though still unmarried after the ripe 
age of twenty-five. This deep-rooted conviction as 
to the destiny of women leaves no room yet for 
the thought that prolonged education may be of 
value to a girl. 

Maria, a young Italian wage-earner, wanted to 
join a class in an evening school very near her 
home. Her family were so far advanced in their 
ideas of education that they had paid the tuition of 
her sister in a business school. Nevertheless, Maria 
went only a few times, when her father and 
mother, growing solicitous about this defiance of 
conventional rules, forbade her being out at night. 

25 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

Soon afterward she married, and from that time 
on she went out only to do her marketing, since her 
husband objected to having her leave the house 
even during the day. To be discontented did not 
occur to her. She told the visitor proudly that she 
was ''very pleased" with her husband. Tessa, 
another Italian girl, actually continued to go to 
evening school for a winter, but the following year 
she did not return. She explained that she no 
longer had time to go out since, after coming home 
from work in a neckwear factory, she was obliged 
to wash the dishes and make up all the folding 
beds for a family of eight. 

Others, however, have found the evening classes 
a great help in their ambition to fashion costumes 
which might increase their opportunities to get 
ahead in the world in the traditional Italian way 
for women. Carmela, a maker of fancy feathers, 
proudly showed the product of her work in an even- 
ing class in dressmaking. It was a pale blue silk 
gown with a "fish-tair* train, a lace bodice, and a 
draped tunic. She had made it to wear to a 
wedding in the neighborhood. She had also con- 
tributed to the family resources by making a blue 
serge dress for her younger sister, thus saving a 
dressmaker's bill. 

While among some races family custom keeps a 
girl out of evening school, often the ambition of 
her parents encourages her to "get more educa- 
tion." Sarah, a Russian girl of fifteen, told us 
that she went because her father, a Hebrew 

26 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

teacher, cautiously advised it, saying, ** Educa- 
tion won't hurt you/' Margaret, whose Irish 
father is a motorman for a New York street car 
line, went regularly to evening high school 
chiefly because, as her stepmother expressed it, 
"The father wants to do the best he can for her." 
He took a keen interest in " Daisy's" schooling, and 
the stepmother urged the visitor to fmd out for 
her how the child was getting along in her classes. 
"The father often asks her could he go to the 
school and see the teacher, because we don't get no 
reports. But Daisy says nobody can do that. We'd 
like to know if she's doing well." 

Florence was a messenger in a New York de- 
partment store. It was her mother, an Irish- 
woman, who encouraged her to go regularly to 
evening school. She wanted her to get more educa- 
tion, and then perhaps the family could spare a 
little money later to train her in stenography so 
that she could have better work than the store 
seemed likely to offer. Her mother had wanted 
her to graduate from day school, but just as she 
was within one term of it she failed of promotion. 
" I felt awful bad about it," said her mother. " I 
went to the teacher and the teacher said she was 
lazy and better be put to work. She asked me 
didn't I notice the reports that Florence was poor 
in arithmetic. I come home and scolded the 
father that he hadn't paid more attention to it. 
He was born in New York and went to school here, 
but I wasn't. I came here when I was fourteen 

27 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

and what education I've had I got from reading 
newspapers and picking it up any way I could. I 
want my daughters to be educated/' 

AGES OF EVENING SCHOOL STUDENTS 

The opportunity afforded the evening schools 
for adding to the meager schooling many of these 
American girls have had, and for interpreting 
America to workers of foreign parentage and 
bringing about a better understanding between 
women of different races is the greater because of 
the youth of the pupils in the classes. In the 
year 1911-12, 8,825 women of twenty-one years 
or older were registered in the elementary schools, 
as compared with 25,238 girls under twenty-one.* 
In the high schools the women numbered 3,949 
and the girls, 9,294. f Table 4 shows the ages of 
the women and girls included in this investigation. 

One in five was under sixteen and 32 per cent, 
nearly one-third, were between sixteen and 
eighteen. Only 2 3 per cent had passed the twenty- 
first birthday. The figures just quoted for all the 
women and girls registered in the elementary and 
high schools in 19 11- 12 showed that 27 per cent, 
12,774, were twenty-one or older. The slight 
difference between this proportion and that of our 

* Superintendent of Schools, New York City. Fourteenth Annual 
Report, 1911-12. Report on Evening Schools for the Year Ending 
July 31, 1912, p. 16. 

In the report for theyear ending July 31, 191 1, the statistics accord- 
ing to age are not given. 

t Ibid., p. 45. In the evening trade schools 452 girls and 459 women 
were registered. 

28 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

group in the preceding year is probably due to the 
fact that in the classes in English for foreigners not 
included by us, the pupils, many of whom have 
come alone to this country, are older than in the 
other classes.* 



TABLE 4. — AGES OF WOMEN ATTENDING PUBLIC 
EVENING SCHOOLS^ 



Age 


WOMEN OF THE AGES 
SPECIFIED 




Number 


Per cent 


Less than i6 years 

1 6 years and less than i8 years . 
i8 years and less than 21 years . 
2 1 years or more 


2,632 
4.184 
3,128 

3.043 


20.3 
32.2 
24.1 
23.4 


Total 


12,987^ 


lOO.O 



a Data appear by principal occupational groups and for selected 
occupations in Appendix 1, Table G, p. 198, and by selected occu- 
pations in trade and transportation and in manufacturing and 
mechanical pursuits in Appendix I, Table J, p. 201. 

b Of the 13,141 women included in the study, 154 did not supply 
information. 

THE PUPILS' AIMS 

It is characteristic of evening school pupils that 
they have joined a class with a practical end in 
view. They wish to learn English, to study Spanish 

* Of the whole group, 93 1 , or 7. i per cent of the 1 3, 1 4 1 , were married 
or widowed. The proportion of married women and widows in the 
group of non-wage-earners was 2 1 .2 per cent, or larger than among the 
wage-earners, of whom only 2.2 per cent were or had been married. I n 
manufacturing and mechanical pursuits the proportion was only 1.5 
percent; in trade and transportation, i percent; in professional work, 
5.2 per cent; and in domestic and personal service, 16.3 per cent. 

29 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

in order to qualify as stenographers in commercial 
houses with branches in Cuba or Porto Rico, to 
make a hat for Easter, to learn to cook in prepara- 
tion for marriage and housekeeping, or, if the aim 
be general education, to secure a foundation for 
later training for some more attractive occupation 
than the one at present followed. Among the 
girls included in our study, the popularity of 
academic subjects, commercial courses, and classes 
in hand work was about equal ; 32 per cent were in 
manual classes, 31 per cent in academic, 31 per cent 
in commercial courses, with a scattered few who 
were studying art or elocution. Ten per cent 
were enrolled in English classes. In some cases the 
same girl was studying an academic subject one 
hour and a commercial subject the second, thus 
being counted in both groups. 

The girls' motives for joining evening classes 
are interesting. In the course of our visits to their 
homes, 271 were asked why they attended night 
school. Table 5 gives their answers. 

Obviously, in analyzing the girls' reasons for 
coming to evening school, we must remember that 
in a sense these will be determined by what the 
evening schools now have to offer. At present it is 
not likely that a girl employed, for example, in a 
paper box factory or a bookbindery would say that 
she was enrolled in an evening class in order to im- 
prove her earning capacity in her day's work. The 
less the emphasis upon vocational training in the 
schools, the less prominent will be the vocational 

30 




Studying "Common Branches" 
Making up deficiencies 




Cooking Class 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

motive in the minds of the pupils. Extension of 
trade classes would doubtless result in a great 
change in motives for attending. At present, if 
the group interviewed be typical, three aims rival 

TABLE 5.— REASONS GIVEN BY 271 WOMEN FOR EN- 
ROLLING IN PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS 



Reason 



In order to change to better work 

To learn for "home use" . 

To obtain a general education . 

To help in daily occupation 

Went with friends 

Thought the law required attendance 

"Nothing else to do" .... 

To prepare for positions that were offered 

To keep up speed in stenography while not 

work 

"Mother made her go" .... 
Sent by father "to keep her off the streets" 
Acquaintance with teacher .... 
"Just happened to go" 



at 



Total 



Women who 
enrolled for each 
specified reason 



75 

74 

72 

25 

8 

6 

4 

2 



271 



*Of the 13,141 women included in the study, 271 were ques- 
tioned as to their reasons for attending public evening school. Of 
these 271 women, 201 were in evening elementary schools and 70 in 
evening high schools. 

one another in importance, — ''home use," as 
illustrated by the married woman who enters a 
dressmaking class to learn how to make her chil- 
dren's clothes; "general education," as revealed in 
the case of the stock girl in a department store 

3» 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

who had joined a class in ''common branches" 
in order, as she said, "to fmish the subjects I didn't 
finish in day school"; and "to change to better 
work," an indication of the discontent felt by many 
girls who have a great desire to learn a new trade 
to enable them to make a fresh start. 

Of the need for finishing what was not finished in 
day school, the spelling on the record cards is a 
convincing sign. The worker on "ledes dresses" 
was rivaled in orthographic ingenuity by the girl 
who made " papar bocses." The " wilomaker " was 
a match for the "toker," — words which, being 
interpreted, stand for willow-maker and tucker. 
"Exzamining" is entirely intelligible, if not Web- 
sterian, as is also " Ladie's underware." The word 
operator provided an exercise in versatility. It 
appeared impartially as aprether, apertergn, up- 
raitter, apreder, aperater, apraider, ipratair, 
aperiter, apeirder, opereider, oposeter, aprading, 
opprerate, opertor, apreider, and opparating. The 
phonetic method was revealed in the writing of a 
girl who had reached the 6B grade after eight years 
in a New York public school. She had been out of 
work "2 ears" and was now trying to make good 
her deficiencies in arithmetic and geography by 
joining an evening class whose subjects, as far as 
she was concerned, went by the name of "erefnret " 
and "girgofrie." A girl who had attended New 
York public schools eight and a half years, reaching 
the 8B grade, wrote that she was now employed in 
a "book boundary." Another, who had attained 

32 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

the 8A grade in an elementary school, described her 
occupation as "Book binind'' and said that her 
father was born in "Irland." One girl was em- 
ployed in a "deportment store'' and another 
called herself a "sail lady/' 

Defective spelling does not always yield to treat- 
ment and is not always indicative of a lack of 
general intelligence, but it is not unreasonable to 
expect that a girl shall know how to spell the name 
of her occupation. Undoubtedly, however, the 
spelling books have not kept pace with industrial 
development. In the interests of industrial educa- 
tion they should be brought up to date in this 
respect. 

For many of these girls the enrollment in an 
evening class in 19 lo was not their first effort to 
add to their educational equipment. Two thousand 
of the 1 3,000 investigated had previously attended 
the evening elementary schools and 1,100 the 
evening high schools. Eighteen hundred had had 
courses in private business schools and a small 
group of 241 had attended trade schools. That is, 
4,902, or 37 per cent of the women investigated, had 
already proved their desire for additional training 
by joining some special class since leaving day 
school. 

Evening classes are not new in the public school 
system. They were organized in New York as 
early as 1847, and their primary purpose through- 
out their history has been to meet the educational 
needs of wage-earners. In early years, however, 

33 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

emphasis was placed on general education for "the 
enlightenment of ignorance." The schools were 
described as part of "a. great crusade against 
ignorance or vice," and as safeguards against the 
temptations encountered by young girls and boys 
who otherwise would spend their evenings on the 
streets. The present-day interest in industrial 
education is having an influence on evening schools 
by changing the conception of the educational 
needs of wage-earners. School authorities are 
talking now not so much about a crusade against 
ignorance as about plans to give definite instruc- 
tion directed toward increasing the skill of workers. 
The problem of giving instruction to increase 
skill in various occupations is not an easy one for 
either day schools or evening schools to handle. 
The first difficulty in the way is the lack of ade- 
quate information regarding industrial conditions. 
Obviously, if the schools are to meet the needs of 
working women, the teachers, and principals, and 
all who have anything to do with planning or carry- 
ing out the curriculum, must know in detail the 
occupations which employ girls. They must under- 
stand the processes into which trades are divided; 
the training required for them; the standards of 
wages, hours, and sanitation generally prevailing; 
the need of the workers for a broader view of their 
own tasks and of their social and industrial rela- 
tions; and the methods of co-operation which may 
be possible between school, employer, and worker. 
To answer these questions thoroughly it would be 

34 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

necessary to make intensive studies of each in- 
dustry. As a basis for such thorough study, how- 
ever, it is valuable to know certain facts about 
the large number of working girls already seeking 
more education in evening schools. 

MAIN GROUPS OF OCCUPATIONS 

How many and varied are the occupations now 
represented in the evening schools of New York 
will be revealed in later chapters. At this point it 
is desirable to know the proportion employed in 
the main groups of wage-earning pursuits. Table 
6 states these facts for the girls included in our 
investigation. 

TABLE 6.— DAILY OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN ATTENDING 

PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS. BY PRINCIPAL 

OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS 



Principal occupational group 


WOMEN EMPLOYED 
AS SPECIFIED 




Number 


Per cent 


Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits . 
Trade and transportation .... 
Domestic and personal service 

Professional service 

No occupation stated ^ . . . . 


4.519 

4.505 

520 

193 

3.404 


34-4 

34-3 

4.0 

1-5 

25.8 


Total 


13,141 


1 00.0 



*When the questions relating to daily occupations were not an- 
swered, it was assumed that the women were not gainfully employed. 
Visits to a few of them indicated that the assumption was correct. 
The women, therefore, who are included in the group with no occu- 
pation stated, are considered throughout the report as not gainfully 
employed. For further explanation, see footnote, p. 36. 

35 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

The phrases used to describe these occupational 
groups are familiar to students of the United 
States Census. Manufacturing and mechanical 
pursuits include all factory work. "Trade and 
transportation'' refers not to trades, as might be 
supposed, but to many diverse tasks which have 
to do with trading or selling goods to customers. 
In this group, which is second to factory work as 
an occupation chosen by evening school girls, are 
included all who work in telegraph or telephone 
exchanges, and those employed in stores or oifices 
as saleswomen, stenographers, bookkeepers, clerical 
workers, and the like. 

The proportion of non-wage-earners, 26 per cent, 
shown in Table 6, may seem surprising.* It should 
be remembered, however, that women who are 
not earning money are in the majority in New York. 
Of every four women in the city three are not 
working for wages, while in the evening schools 
this proportion is exactly reversed, thus indicating 
that the schools appeal primarily to the working 
women in the community. 

The proportion of non-wage-earners in the 

* As the table shows, 3,404 made no report on occupation. In 
some instances this may have been merely a careless failure to answer 
the question; but in the majority of cases the remainder of the record 
was sufficiently full to justify the conclusion that the greater number 
of these girls were not wage-earners. Further, as shown by the card 
given in the Appendix, p. 186, we asked not only " What is the business 
of the firm for which you now work?" but " If out of work at present, 
what was the business of the firm for which you last worked?" Only 
those who answered neither of these questions were counted in the 
group "No occupation stated." The number who answered the sec- 
ond, thus reporting themselves as out of work, was small, — only 536, 
or 5.5 per cent of the wage-earners who filled the record cards. 

36 



GIRLS WHO ATTEND EVENING SCHOOLS 

schools varies in different sections of the city. In 
Manhattan and the Bronx they numbered 19 per 
cent and in Brooklyn, 35 per cent. In school No. 
10 in the Bronx the proportion was 37 per cent as 
compared with only 5.6 per cent not at work in 
school No. 177 on the lower East Side. Quite as 
marked are the variations in different schools in 
the proportion of workers in each occupational 
group. 

Within the walls of school buildings in New 
York, then, every night when evening schools are 
in session are to be found pupils of many nationali- 
ties and diverse occupations. The national group- 
ings are to a certain degree peculiar to New York. 
Splendid material is found among the foreign-born 
adult pupils. In the spirit of a great people's 
university the public schools in the evening should 
be made acenterforaninterchangeof thought and 
idealism to which each race may contribute its 
best. The teachers must concern themselves also 
with vocational problems, which are significant 
not for New York only, but for every city in which 
modern industrial conditions are complex. Every- 
where the schools are hard-pressed to find the 
answers to many questions forced upon their 
attention by changing conditions. Especially 
urgent and puzzling are those which concern the 
education of wage-earning women and girls. 



37 



CHAPTER II 

OCCUPATIONS OF GIRLS WHO GO TO 
NIGHT SCHOOL 

EVERYONE knows that great changes have 
taken place in women's work in the past 
fifty years. Few understand the diversity 
of these changes, nor do they realize how numerous 
and varied are the tasks by which women and girls 
now try to earn their living. The girls who gather 
in the evening schools have come from office, 
factory, or store. During their working day 
they have been answering the incessant calls 
for "central" or for **cash girl"; they have been 
goffering rose leaves with a hot iron, rolling cig- 
arettes, putting labels on cigars by the thousands 
or olives into glass bottles, feeding the ten thou- 
sandth sheet into a folding machine in a book bind- 
ery, typewriting office letters, selling "notions," 
testing electric light bulbs in a dark room, stitching 
hundreds of yards of ruffling on power machines, 
trimming hats, or draping fashionable gowns. A 
long and varied list of occupations, with a high 
grade of skill required for a few, but with end- 
less monotony characteristic of many of them, — 
this is the modern industrial world for women 
which challenges attention not only in evening 

38 



OCCUPATIONS 

schools but in all branches of the educational 
system. 

As early as 1858 the board of education of New 
York City called attention to the changing condi- 
tions of women's work and the need for industrial 
education. The annual report* of that year 
estimates ''that no less than 80,000 females are 
engaged in various occupations, mostly in the 
manufactories which are found in various parts of 
our city." 

"Very little opportunity," the report continues, "is 
afforded to them for purposes of study, and it is not 
therefore surprising that of this vast number the com- 
paratively few who enter our evening schools are in the 
lower classes. During the past year the improvements 
made in the sewing machines have rendered them so 
perfect that they have been in many cases substituted 
for female labor, thereby throwing large numbers of 
females out of employment. This has been felt by 
them to be a very serious evil, as other branches of 
female labor seem to have as many employed in them 
as can well be accommodated. What, therefore, can 
be done for this unfortunate class of our population? 

" Your committee believe that the time is rapidly ap- 
proaching when the male clerks in most of our retail 
stores will be exchanged for females, who are so well 
adapted to fill such positions. Already very many em- 
ployers have secured the services of this class and feel 
well satisfied with the exchange. 

"That they may be qualified in every respect to 
discharge faithfully and successfully the duties apper- 

* New York Board of Education. Annual Report, 1858, p. 189. 

39 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

taining to these positions, it is necessary that they 
should possess a thorough knowledge of accounts and 
some familiarity with the elements of bookkeeping. Our 
evening schools are competent to impart this desirable 
information, and we urge upon all who wish to obtain 
situations as clerks in stores to avail themselves of the 
facilities which are now so favorably presented to them." 

More than fifty years have elapsed since these 
words were written, and few of the thousands of 
girls in the sewing trades in New York now know 
that the rapid, whirring machines which need so 
many operators ever threw any women out of work, 
and the long lines of salesgirls in the huge modern 
department stores would be even more surprised 
to hear that the board of education had once offered 
courses to enable displaced seamstresses to fill the 
positions of male retail clerks, in the hope that some 
day many more women might fmd that occupation 
open to them. 

That wish of 1858 has been amply fulfilled. The 
census of 1900 told us that in the house-to-house 
canvass, enumerators found 65,318 girls in Greater 
New York employed in ''trade and transporta- 
tion,'' which includes salesgirls, bookkeepers, ste- 
nographers, office clerks, and all others engaged in 
the business of selling or transporting goods after 
their manufacture. But these occupations do not 
appear to have taken the place of sewing or any 
other form of manual work, for the same census 
reported 132,535 women in manufacturing estab- 
lishments. Of the 169,584 other wage-earning 

40 



OCCUPATIONS 

women in New York, 146,722 were in domestic or 
personal service, 22,422 in professional service, 
and 440 in agriculture.* 

CHANGES IN WOMEN'S WORK 

Technical and cumbersome as the census classi- 
fication may seem, in its setting of many statistics, 
it is merely an official description of the modern 
way of satisfying our social and physical needs. 
Fundamentally, not the needs but the methods of 
supplying them have changed. Food, shelter, 
clothing, and social intercourse, — these are the 
necessities of life for which men and women have 
always labored. For modern workers, however, 
the terms of the day's labor are different. Today 
we have a long list of occupations grouped under 
five large heads: mining and agriculture, represent- 
ing the extraction of raw food and materials from 
the earth; manufacturing and mechanical pursuits, 
including all the tasks of preparing for sale in- 
numerable articles of food, shelter, clothing, and 
luxury; trade and transportation, with all the 
diverse schemes of organization necessary to trans- 
port goods from place to place, and finally, to 
consummate a sale; professional service, which 
corresponds roughly to the need which we have 
defined as social intercourse, including law and 
government, science, medicine, art, and teaching; 
and, fifth in these large groups of occupations, 

♦Twelfth United States Census, 1900. Special Reports, Occupa- 
tions, p. 640. For figures from the census of 1910, see this volume, 

;). 183. 

41 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

domestic and personal service, embracing alike the 
service rendered in households by maids to mis- 
tresses and the more highly organized tasks of 
cooks and waiters in a hotel, of hairdressers and 
manicures, office cleaners, and janitors. 

This last group brings into prominence the fact 
that the economic world is still in a state of 
transition. The methods of performing many tasks 
are highly organized; while others are still carried 
on in private households. A great deal of work is 
paid for under the wage system; while often the 
worker spends her energies in meeting her own 
needs or the needs of her family, and receives no 
money in return. Doubtless many of the even- 
ing school pupils whom we have classified as non- 
wage-earners were productive workers at home 
in tasks not paid for in wages. In such a transi- 
tional period it is natural that public opinion should 
grow confused on the subject of women's work. 
Her employment outside the home is spoken of as 
a new and abnormal phenomenon, while certain 
tasks, like domestic service, or dressmaking, or 
millinery have always been considered her normal 
occupation, even when carried on elsewhere than 
in the home. Perhaps this confusion about wom- 
an's sphere is due to an inability to see the process 
of change and to face the fact that women are ex- 
periencing not an enlargement of their field of work 
but a violent revolution in the method of doing it. 
This process has gone on for the most part un- 
noticed, and not until millions of women had 

42 



OCCUPATIONS 

joined the ranks of wage-earners in this country 
did the general public begin to realize its portentous 
character. Even now, in many a city, the majority 
of the population have but a vague impression of 
the nature and conditions of industries carried on 
at their very doors. It was in 1907 that "the first 
general survey of the women-employing trades of 
an American city" was undertaken.* Curiously 
enough, Pittsburgh was the scene of the investiga- 
tion — a fact which emphasizes the difference be- 
tween actual conditions and the public impression 
of them. For the industries of Pittsburgh, even in 
the minds of Pittsburghers, are not of the feminine 
type, and as Miss Butler points out in the opening 
sentences of her report: " Pittsburgh as a workshop 
for women seems a contradiction in terms." Mines 
and steel works, the digging of crude ores, and the 
fusing and forging of them,t do not require wom- 
en's work. In the city in which these tremendous 
operations compel attention, it is only the thought- 
ful and observant who are aware of the more 
humdrum work necessary to satisfy the needs of 
a large laboring population. It is precisely be- 
cause the work of women is often concerned with 
needs which are not new and therefore are taken 

* The investigation was made by Miss Elizabeth B. Butler as part 
of the Pittsburgh Survey, under the direction of Charities PubHcation 
Committee with the co-operation of the Russell Sage Foundation. 
The results were published as the first volume of the Pittsburgh Sur- 
vey Series, — Butler, EHzabeth B.: Women and the Trades. Russell 
Sage Foundation Publication. New York, Charities Publication 
Committee, 1910. 

t Yet the women chain makers of England set up little forges in 
their own homes, and there hammer out the links. 

43 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

for granted without further thought, that the 
changed conditions of their work are so little 
understood. 

The women workers in the city of mines and 
steel works were employed in food production, in 
the stogy industry, — fulfilling the workingman's 
wish for a cheap smoke, — in the needle trades, in 
saleswork, in telephone operating, and in the clean- 
ing industries, — important in a city of smoke and 
grime. Nothing very unusual or very dramatic 
appears in that enumeration, but interest is aroused 
when we are given more details of the picture. 
It is not commonplace to fmd "women mold- 
ing metals, shaping lamps, and making glass," 
"girl thread makers at the screw and bolt works,*' 
and " strong-armed women who fashion sand cores 
in foundries planned like Alberich's smithy in the 
underworld." Even "the hill-dwelling wives of 
the miners" had not escaped the modern demands 
of industry, since their wooden shacks had become 
sweatshops to which the garment factories sent out 
work to be done for a pittance. 

Slavic girls and women, sisters and wives of mill 
workers, are to be found in canneries and cracker 
factories where they "pack or fill jars at high 
speed." In tin plate mills they "open the sheets 
of tin, still warm from the furnaces. They screw 
nuts or bolts by a fish-oil process, and carry heavy 
trays in foundries where they have displaced men. 
They are the packers in glass factories, the riveters 
and foot-press operators in lamp works." 

44 



OCCUPATIONS 

Chivalry has not made easy the way of women in 
industry, nor have the Hghter tasks always been 
accorded to them. Neither have they met with 
fair play in the terms of the labor bargain. Miss 
Butler thus sums up her picture: " Many of these 
women are put to work at wages below the cost of 
subsistence, for hours longer than the measure of 
their strength, in buildings and at ill-constructed 
machines which can not but injure their health, 
and at processes which must handicap heavily the 
development of both mind and body."* 

What Miss Butler did that year for Pittsburgh 
the Department of Commerce and Labor was 
beginning in 1907 to undertake for the whole 
country with its 5,000,000 women workers. Nine- 
teen volumes contain the fmdings submitted to 
Congress. t They show that the condition in Pitts- 
burgh is essentially characteristic of many other 
communities. The government investigators fol- 
lowed women into the glass factories of 17 states 
and watched them sorting and packing the ware, 
chipping and filing the necks of bottles, glazing, 
etching, and decorating glassware. They found 
them in the cotton mills tending the big machines 
and engaged in a variety of minute processes, in 
air so heated and moist as to be good for the cotton 
but bad for the women and children employed. In 
the metal trades of 1 3 states women were impor- 

* Butler, op. cit., p. 28. 

t Report on the Condition of Woman and Child Wage-Earners in 
the United States. Senate Document No. 645. 

45 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

tant factors. They fed bolts into the presses "at 
considerable risk" of injury to their hands. As in 
Pittsburgh, so in many other cities, girls were mak- 
ing the sand cores for the casting of brassware. In 
the manufacture of firearms and ammunition they 
were polishing gun barrels and assembling locks. 
They were tending machines for making tin cans, 
an industry in which, the report says, the "accident 
rate among women is very high." 

These are but stray illustrations of the material 
presented in this nineteen-volume government re- 
port. The material itself is but a series of views 
of women at work in certain occupations and com- 
munities selected for investigation. No large city 
was completely surveyed. Many industrial com- 
munities were omitted for lack of time and money 
to study them. 

DIVERSE OCCUPATIONS AMONG EVENING SCHOOL 

PUPILS 

That New York City is a mirror for the indus- 
tries of the whole country is vividly demonstrated 
in the variety of occupations represented in the 
evening schools. As already shown in the first 
chapter, of the 13,141 girls who filled record 
cards in the investigation on which these chap- 
ters are based, 4,519 were employed in manu- 
facturing, 4,505 in trade and transportation, 193 
in professions, and 520 in domestic and personal 
service. 

So diverse are the occupations within these dif- 

46 



OCCUPATIONS 

ferent groups that the mere naming and classifying 
of them presents a problem which is at present 
puzzling even experts in the census bureau of the 
United States. Manufacturing, for example, de- 
fies attempts at classification. Shall workers be 
grouped according to the actual process in which 
they are engaged, or according to the product of 
their industry? If we count all who take part in the 
making of dresses as dressmakers, we have the 
girl who cuts out embroidery in a large wholesale 
factory for ready-made clothing counted with the 
draper in a fashionable Fifth Avenue custom shop. 
Such a classification would throw light on the num- 
ber engaged in the dressmaking industry, but tell 
us nothing about the relative skill or position of 
the workers. On the other hand, if we should count 
all machine operators together, we should have 
those who make bathing suits or shirtwaists, for 
instance, classed with those who sew straw hats, or 
flour sacks, or window shades; and the number 
would not be significant either as indicating those 
engaged in separate industries, or as an enumera- 
tion of a group of workers encountering similar 
conditions. Furthermore, any such plan would 
make comparison with official figures impossible, 
as hitherto the basis of classification by the census 
and the New York State Department of Labor 
has been the product, not the process. In grouping 
the evening school pupils according to their occu- 
pations, we have, therefore, classified those in 
manufacturing according to the product, following 

47 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

as closely as possible the grouping adopted by the 
New York State Department of Labor.* 

The women who were counted as employed in 
manufacturing and mechanical pursuits were really 
at work in nine large industries with 82 distinct 
divisions. When we realize that these 82 minor 
divisions include such important separate trades 
as shirtwaist making and bookbinding, and that 
within these trades are many distinct occupations, 
we begin to realize that the field of women's work 
in New York is neither simple nor homogeneous. 
The nine large manufacturing groupsf represented 
among the occupations of girls in evening schools 
are shown in Table 7. 

Thus women who attend the evening schools in 
New York are employed not only in sewing, but 
in printing and in the manufacture of paper goods. 
They are not only milliners and artificial flower 
makers, but workers in the preparation of con- 
fectionery, food, tobacco, and bakery products, 
and in the manufacture of goods of fur, leather, 
rubber, and hair. In the textile industries they 
are employed in making articles of flax, hemp, or 
jute, as well as in fashioning braids, passementerie, 
laces, or veils. The group called "other occupa- 
tions in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits" 
includes work on stone, glass, metal, and precious 
stones, electrical supplies, articles of wood and 

* New York State Department of Labor. Annual Report on Fac- 
tory Inspection, 1910, pp. 361-374. 

t The 82 minor subdivisions of these large industries are shown in 
Appendix I, Table D, p. 193. 

48 




Learning Bonnaz Embroidery 



OCCUPATIONS 

cork, paints and dyes, drugs and chemicals, soap 
and perfumery, and lamp shades. Here also are 
counted the laundry workers and the girls em- 
ployed in establishments for cleaning and dyeing. 

TABLE 7. — OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN ATTENDING 
PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS, EMPLOYED IN 
MANUFACTURING AND MECHANICAL PUR- 
SUITS, BY MAIN GROUPS OF OCCUPATIONS^ 





WOMEN EMPLOYED 


Occupation 


AS SPECIFIED 




Number 


Per cent 


Artificial flower and feather making . 


292 


6.5 


Making of men's clothing .... 


211 


4-7 


Making of women's clothing 


1,928 


42.7 


Work on confectionery, food, tobacco, etc. 


234 


5-2 


Work on fur, leather, rubber, hair goods, etc. 


344 


7-6 


Millinery 


263 


5-8 


Miscellaneous needlework .... 


232 


5» 


Work on printing and paper goods . 


417 


9.2 


Work on textiles 


293 


6.5 


Other occupations in manufacturing and 






mechanical pursuits 


305 


6.7 


Total 


4.519 


100. 



* Data appear in detail in Appendix I, Table D, p. 193. 

The list of these industries is based on the girls' 
answers to the question: What is the business of 
the firm for which you now work? Their answers 
to the question: What work do you do for this 
firm? tell the story of subdivided tasks. Roughly, 
these latter classify into tasks of supervision and 
management; into major processes of manufacture; 
minor processes of preparation of goods for sale, 

49 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

such as labeling or counting, and odd jobs about 
the workrooms. For example, in the manufacture 
of bakery products they did not cook, as some 
who are unfamiliar with a modern bakery might ex- 
pect, but they merely packed and labeled, minor 
tasks which fall to the lot of women in many 
large industries. In neckwear factories they were 
designers, operators, trimmers, bow makers, 
plaiters, lace-runners, preparers, finishers, embroid- 
erers, packers, and floor girls. In shoe making 
they reported such diverse processes as perforat- 
ing, buttonhole operating, back strapping, making 
linings, fitting vamps, marking leather, cleaning, 
beading, and the inevitable marking and labeling, 
wrapping and packing. In the tobacco industry 
they made and stamped cigars; stripped, bunched 
and rolled cigarettes; fed cigarette machines, 
boxed, and counted coupons. 

This outline of manufacturing and mechanical 
pursuits does not exhaust the list of women's 
occupations. Obviously, after goods have been 
manufactured they must be sold. It will be re- 
called that the census calls this process, with all its 
ramifications, "trade and transportation.'' Table 
8 shows the subdivisions in which evening school 
girls were at work. 

The work of the evening school girls in this 
group includes stenography, bookkeeping and other 
clerical work, telephone operating, telegraphy, 
operating adding machines, proofreading, compil- 
ing statistics in manufacturing establishments, 

50 



OCCUPATIONS 



serving as cashiers in grocery or butcher shops, 
buying, shopping, and taking part in various proc- 
esses of selling goods over the counters of stores. 

TABLE 8. — OCCUPATIONS OF WOMEN ATTENDING 

PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS AND EMPLOYED 

IN TRADE AND TRANSPORTATION 



Occupation 



WOMEN EMPLOYED 
AS SPECIFIED 



Number Per cent 



Stenographers and bookkeepers . 

Clerks and office workers .... 

Employes in stores including saleswomen, 
packers, cashiers, stock keepers, mes- 
sengers, etc 

Stock keepers (other than in department 
stores) 

Cashiers (other than in department stores) 

Buyers, shoppers 

Proofreaders, copy holders .... 

Miscellaneous (collectors, agents, etc.) 



Total 



1.813 
1.754 



709 

117 
56 
36 

13 

7 



40.3 
38.9 



15-7 

2.6 

1 .2 

.8 

3 

.2 



4.505 



100. o 



The largest group of wage-earning girls in New 
York is in domestic and personal service, but 
among evening school pupils representatives of this 
group are few in numbers. Principals of evening 
schools cite cases of girls employed in household 
work who have not been able to continue in classes, 
even when they made a beginning. The nature of 
their tasks keeps them on duty longer hours than 
are required of workers in any factories, stores, 
or offices in New York. In view of this fact, not 
the absence of domestic workers, but the number of 

51 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

them in night schools is surprising. But the group 
of evening school pupils employed in *' domestic 
and personal service" consists not only of maids, 
cooks, waitresses, and laundresses in private 
families, but also of office cleaners, janitresses, 
hairdressers, masseuses, trained nurses, and com- 
panions, as well as employes in hotels, restaurants, 
diet kitchens, and institutions. One pupil was an 
embalmer in an undertaking establishment. 

Finally, there is the small group of professional 
workers who attend evening classes. These are 
teachers, governesses, musicians, librarians, inter- 
preters, dietitians, theatrical employes, models, 
statisticians, and investigators. 

A comparison of the occupational grouping of 
girls enrolled in evening schools with the census 
figures showing the occupational grouping of work- 
ing women in the whole population, is necessary to 
afford a basis for judging whether the public even- 
ing schools attract typical working women, and 
whether the material which we have gathered from 
the schools may safely be regarded as indicative 
of the conditions of women's work in New York. 
The results of this comparison are shown in the 
accompanying diagram. 

Domestic and personal service and the profes- 
sions are not, as we have indicated, widely repre- 
sented in the evening schools. These draw their 
pupils chiefly from the groups engaged in manufac- 
turing and mechanical pursuits, and trade and 
transportation, with a larger proportion from 

52 



OCCUPATIONS 



Professional 
service, 6 1 



Domestic and 
personal 
service, 
39.9 




Manufactur- 
ing, 36.1 



Trade and 
transportation, 17.8 



General Population, 1900 



Domestic and personal 
service, 5.3 



)^ Professional service, 
^ 2.0 



Trade and 
transporta- 
tion, 46.3 




Manufac- 
turing, 
46.4 



Evening Schools, 19 10- 11 

Diagram I. — Percentage Distribution, by Main Groups of 
Occupations, of the 367,437 Women Gainfully Employed 
IN New York City as Shown by the Census of 1900, and of 
9,737 Women in Public Evening Schools in 1910-11 

* Of the 367,437 women gainfully employed, 440, or 1 per cent, 
were employed in " agriculture." This proportion is too small to be 
represented on the diagram. For figures from the census of 1910, 
see this volume, p. 183. 

53 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

trade and transportation than the actual numerical 
importance of this group among women's occupa- 
tions in New York would warrant. Perhaps it is 
natural to suppose that girls engaged in clerical 
work and similar employment would be found in 
evening schools in larger proportion than the 
factory workers, since our evening schools, like our 
day schools, have placed their emphasis on clerical 
rather than on manual work. Moreover, as will 
be seen in the following chapter, the hours in offices 
are shorter than are those in factories. 

Within the manufacturing group in evening 
classes we have noted representatives of every 
important trade listed in the census as employing 
women. Furthermore, the relative importance of 
the various trades is much the same in evening 
schools as in the general population. We must 
make allowance here for the difficulties of classifi- 
cation and the probable differences between our 
grouping and that of the census. Of the data re- 
corded in the census, the occupational statistics 
secured from the house-to-house canvass bear the 
closest resemblance to our investigation in method 
of inquiry, since both are based on the worker's 
answer to the general question: What is your 
occupation? Using these occupational statistics 
from the census, therefore, and ranking the trade 
according to its numerical importance among all 
women employed in this group in 1900 in New York 
City, and among evening school pupils in 19 10, 
we have the results shown in Table 9. 

54 



OCCUPATIONS 

TABLE 9.— PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS IN MANUFAC- 
TURING AND MECHANICAL PURSUITS, RANKED AC- 
CORDING TO NUMBER OF WOMEN EMPLOYED, 
FOR WOMEN ATTENDING PUBLIC EVENING 
SCHOOLS, 1910-1911, AND FOR ALL WOMEN 
IN NEW YORK CITY IN 1900 



Occupation 



Dressmakers and seamstresses . 
Tailoresses on men's and women's 

clothing, including vest makers 
Artificial flower and feather makers 

Milliners 

Embroidery and lace makers 

Bookbinders 

Paper box makers 

Makers of women's neckwear 

Tobacco and cigar factory operatives 

Confectioners 

Workers on knit goods 

Workers on silk goods . 

Workers on hair goods 

Metal workers 

Shirt, collar, and cuff makers 



RANK OF EACH SPECIFIED 
OCCUPATION ACCORDING TO 
NUMBER OF WOMEN EM- 
PLOYED, FOR 



Women 

attending 

public 

evening 

schools 




All women* 



2 

lo 
3 
7 
5 
6 
h 

4 

12 
26 



I I 



* Based on figures in Twelfth United States Census, 1900. 
Special Reports, Occupations, p. 640. 

^ Not listed separately in the census. 



The fact that the census computation for New 
York City is of a period ten years prior to our in- 

55 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

vestlgation* probably accounts for some of the 
differences in the rank of occupations which may 
have grown rapidly in the past decade. Three of 
the groups of trades named in the evening school 
records are not separately mentioned in the census, 
— women's neckwear, hair goods, and metal work, 
— so comparison is not possible in these cases. 
Cigar making as an occupation ranks ninth in the 
evening schools and fourth in New York City. 
In the case of such a trade a reasonable explana- 
tion of the small attendance of workers may be 
found in the long hours commonly prevailing 
in the industry, and the unhealthy conditions 
in the workrooms. Thus the proportion from this 
trade would be lower than among the working 
population of the city. If, however, we compare 
the rank of the more important groups, — dress- 
makers and seamstresses, tailoresses, milliners, 
bookbinders, paper box makers, and confectionery 
workers, — the similarity to the census is so marked 
as to point to the conclusion that on the whole 
from the point of view of occupational grouping 
the evening school pupils are representative of 
women engaged in manufacturing in the city. 

This belief has been strengthened by the de- 
scription of the processes of work carried on by 
these girls in their trades, and the guide which 
this gives us in estimating their rank in their 

* Early in 191 4, the occupational statistics gathered in the census 
of 1910 were not yet available, because of the inadequate appropria- 
tion made by Congress for the necessary work of tabulating and 
publishing census material. 

56 



OCCUPATIONS 

occupations. It has been seen that workers of 
various degrees of skill and lack of skill are repre- 
sented. For example, from "owner" of a dress- 
making establishment to "learner," all grades of 
the industry appear to be included. In view of all 
these considerations, it seems safe to say that the 
industrial conditions described by the girls in th^e 
evening schools whose occupations brought them 
under the classification of workers in trade and 
transportation, and in manufacturing and me- 
chanical pursuits are fairly representative of the 
industrial conditions of wage-earning women in the 
largest industrial center in the United States. 

FACTS SIGNIFICANT FOR THE SCHOOLS 

For educators who wish to equip girls for in- 
dustry the facts obtained on these 13,000 cards 
are significant as giving a picture of the kind of 
work ahead of the thousands of young girls who 
leave school every year to go to work. Perhaps 
the most important fact to note is that these even- 
ing school girls were employed in at least one proc- 
ess in all but three of the 12 large industrial groups 
listed by the New York State Department of 
Labor:* and these three were the manufacture 
of paper and pulp, as distinct from the making of 
goods of paper; the building industry; and occupa- 
tions concerned with supplying water, light, and 
power in cities and villages. As a corollary, it is 

* New York State Department of Labor. Annual Report on Fac- 
tory Inspection, 19 lo, p. 361. 

57 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

obvious that industrial education for women can 
not be confined to the so-called traditional pursuits 
of women, such as sewing and cooking, if the move- 
ment is to touch the real problems of wage-earning 
women. 

Important also for the schools is a fact which 
stands out conspicuously in a study of these rec- 
ords, — that apparently work is so organized that 
in innumerable processes no skill is required. If it 
be true that the thing which is lacking is not merely 
a skilled worker, but an opportunity to use skill, 
then the schools have a larger problem than that 
of giving technical efficiency to their pupils. In 
some way they must supply what the industry 
does not demand, such an all-round development 
as shall keep alive the general intelligence of the 
worker. It seems unfair to heap criticism upon the 
schools for not equipping wage-earners for work, 
when the larger task of equipping boys and girls 
for citizenship may demand a training quite un- 
related to workshop requirements; a training, in- 
deed, which shall offset the influence of the present 
organization of work. 

If the details which we have cited as illustrative 
of conditions seem to compose a dreary picture, it 
should be remembered that such is the sum total of 
the impression made by recent reports, especially 
those issued by the government. Furthermore, 
these are the facts which we must face, if condi- 
tions are to be improved. Of the many facts 
which give investigators courage to believe that 

58 



OCCUPATIONS 

great changes for the welfare of the workers are 
about to be accomplished in industry, three may be 
cited: First, in every industry one fmds pioneer 
employers who are proving day by day the com- 
plete practicability of justice, fair play, and health- 
ful surroundings for the workers. To cite one 
instance, the government investigators described 
the contrast between two factories producing 
essentially the same class of hardware goods. In 
one the accident rate among women was 17 per 
100 workers, while in the other, with its more 
careful covering of revolving belts and its safety 
attachments on stamping presses, the correspond- 
ing rate was only i .4 per cent.* Second, we have 
in increasing numbers investigations like that of 
the government, affording a basis for improvement 
through a better conscience in industry itself, and 
through an aroused public opinion, acting through 
such established forces as labor legislation and 
public schools. Third, the fact that women have 
been tried and not found wanting in so great a 
variety of occupations indicates that we have in 
them a great potential force for the material service 
of humanity, if only we can so change conditions 
as to give free play to that force. 

In New York City, of every four women one is a 
wage-earner; of every four wage-earners one is a 
woman; and of every 10 women in the population 

* Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage-Earners in the 
United States. Vol. XI, Employment of Women in the Metal 
Trades, p. 75. United States Senate Document No. 645. 

59 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

one works in a factory.* We have traveled a long 
distance from the days of self-sufficient households, 
in which all the necessary tasks of feeding, shelter- 
ing, and clothing the family were carried on at 
home. The change has profoundly influenced 
women's lives. The hope of fifty years ago that 
more occupations might be open to them has been 
fulfilled. In many and diverse ways they are seek- 
ing to earn a livelihood for themselves and often 
for others. How to keep the conditions of their 
work from being harmful to them, and subse- 
quently to the race, — this is the profoundly im- 
portant matter with which the community must 
concern itself. 

* The total number of females ten years of age and over in the city 
in 1900 was 1,356,737. Of these, 367,437 (or one in four) were gain- 
fully employed, and 132,535 (or one in ten) were in manufacturing 
and mechanical pursuits. The total number of persons, male and 
female, ten years of age and over, gainfully employed, was 1,469,908; 
and of this number, one in four was a woman. Twelfth United States 
Census, 1900. Population, Part II, p. 138; and Occupations, pp. 
638 ff. For figures from the census of 1910, see this volume, p. 183. 



60 



CHAPTER in 
DAILY HOURS OF LABOR 

WITH the increasingly complex organiza- 
tion of commerce and industry, the 
length of the working day has become 
an important labor problem. To shorten it, men 
and women have gone out on strike at a cost to them 
in loss of wages which can never be counted. Leg- 
islators have passed laws and courts have handed 
down decisions as to the right of the state to restrict 
the length of duration of the day's labor. Reformers 
have pointed out the social consequences of violat- 
ing the wage-earners' right to leisure. Finally, 
physiologists have added the word of science that 
fatigue is a menace to physical well-being, a poison- 
ing of tissue which can be repaired only by rest 
taken frequently enough to avoid exhaustion.* 
Meanwhile, a few who argue against the legislative 
control of hours of labor point to the good old days 
when the whole household worked from early dawn 
until after sundown without interference. 

These opponents of the new movement forget 
how greatly time has altered conditions. Speciali- 
zation has produced monotony. Speed is a new 

* See Goldmark, Josephine: Fatigue and Efficiency, p. 13. Rus- 
sell Sage Foundation Publication. New York, Charities Publication 
Committee, 1912. 

61 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

requirement which has completely changed the 
life of the worker. Machine tenders and hand 
workers alike find that their efficiency is measured 
in terms of rapidity. The movement toward 
shortening the day's labor is an effort to counteract 
the ill effects of monotony and speed by giving 
nature a few more hours in every twenty-four to 
repair the human machinery. It must never be 
forgotten in a discussion of evening classes that 
they represent the wage-earner's use of leisure 
hours, when mind and body alike must be rested 
and refreshed lest the net result of the day be a 
loss of physical vitality. The conditions of the 
day's work and the length of time spent in the 
workshop actually determine the results to be 
attained in the class room at night. The most 
efficient teacher in an evening class is the one who 
understands the effect of fatigue on mind and body, 
and can so stimulate attention and inspire interest 
as to refresh rather than to tire her pupils. To 
know the facts about hours is obviously important 
for the evening schools. It is even more important 
that the community should understand the condi- 
tions as they are reflected in the evening classes, so 
that greater progress may be made in shortening 
the hours of labor during the day. 

A sixteen-year-old girl in a Brooklyn evening 
school reported that she worked in a box factory 
from 7:15 in the morning until 5:30 at night, with 
a half hour for lunch at noon. Her actual working 
hours were nine and three-quarters a day. She 

62 



DAILY HOURS OF LABOR 

was Studying stenography and typewriting four 
evenings a week. Another girl sixteen years old 
worked in a stocking factory from 7 a.m. until 

7 p.m., with a half hour for lunch, going to night 
school to learn dressmaking after a workday of 
eleven and one-half hours. A cashier in a store 
worked from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with an hour at 
noon, and studied typewriting and English at 
night. A machine operator in a silk mill worked 
from 7 to 6 with three-quarters of an hour at noon. 
In trades like flower and feather making, in which 
the girls take work home to do at night, the day's 
work is often continued after evening school. 

Moreover, to the hours of labor in the workroom 
must be added the time spent in transit, if we would 
gain any conception of the energy needed to attend 
night classes. This is the way one girl, a floor hand 
in a petticoat factory, spent her time. She is 
typical of many others: Her hours were from 

8 a.m. to 6 p.m. She left home at 7:10 a.m. In 
the morning and evening she swept and dusted the 
workroom. During the day she ran errands in 
the factory, except in the half hour allowed for 
lunch. She reached home for dinner at 6:45 p.m., 
leaving for night school at 7:15. She returned 
home again at 10:15. Thus, during four days in 
the week, she had no leisure time between 7:10 a.m. 
and 10:15 p.m. In November she dropped out of 
the class. Is it any wonder that school authorities 
fmd the problem of irregular attendance a baffling 
one? 

63 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

A Russian girl, living in East 1 2 1 st Street, worked 
from 8 to 6 every day in a millinery shop in Fifth 
Avenue near Thirty-sixth Street. She reached 
home at 7 o'clock and it was impossible to have 
dinner and to reach the evening school in io6th 
Street by 7:30. After being late several times she 
gave up the effort to attend. The year before she 
had succeeded in arriving on time by going straight 
to school from work, and having dinner when she 
reached home at 10 p.m. 

A group of more than a hundred of these evening 
school pupils who were not yet sixteen years old 
were interviewed at home by our investigators. 
Among other questions, they were asked how many 
hours a day they spent away from home, including 
time in the workroom, in transit to and from work, 
and in evening classes. Of 104 questioned on 
these points, 62 spent an hour or more in transit 
and only eight spent less than a half hour going to 
and from work. One hundred were in the work- 
room nine hours or longer, including the lunch 
period, and 46 did not reach home until half past 
six or later in the evening, 34 arriving between 6 
and 6:30, and only 24 before 6 o'clock. In work, 
transit, and evening school four days a week, 
none of these fourteen- and fifteen-year-old girls 
spent less than ten hours a day, only seven spent 
less than twelve hours, while 95 were away from 
home twelve to fifteen hours of the twenty-four. 
Two others exceeded even that number. These 
were all mere children who ought to have been 

64 



DAILY HOURS OF LABOR 

spending several hours in the twenty-four in play 
and healthful exercise. Yet some of them suc- 
ceeded in taking a full course in evening school. 

Many others, a little older than these children, 
showed similar powers of endurance. For instance, 
a packer, sixteen years old, in a department store 
worked from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturdays 
until 1 1 at night, fifty-nine and one-half hours a 
week, yet she was still in evening high school at 
the close of the session in May. Furthermore, at 
Christmas time when the evening schools were 
closed, she endured the fatigue of working in the 
store until 1 1 p.m. every night, thus prolonging 
the week from fifty-nine and one-half to eighty-two 
hours. Another, a salesgirl, sixteen years old, 
employed in a retail store, worked seventy-eight 
hours in the week before Christmas. On Saturday 
night of that week she reached home at 12:15 ^^^' 
She was studying bookkeeping, in the hope of 
getting a better position. 

Detailed information of this kind can be secured 
only through personal interviews with the girls at 
home. The facts given on the record cards were 
answers to three questions: What time do you 
begin work in the morning? How many minutes 
do you have for lunch at noon? What time do 
you stop work in the evening? We did not ask for 
a statement about overtime, since exact informa- 
tion about so complicated a subject would have 
been difficult to secure in an investigation based, 
as this one was, on written reports. Nor were 

65 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

the Saturday hours recorded, and therefore the 
data do not show the length of the working week. 
The information most significant for the evening 
schools is the time of stopping work in the evening 
and the hours of labor on the first four days of the 
week, when the evening classes are in session. 

The hours of work of women in domestic and 
personal service and in professions were not tabu- 
lated. It was evident from the records that the 
working day in domestic and personal service was 
so indefinite and so varied that accurate statistics 
could not be compiled. In the professions the 
number of women was small and their hours varied 
too much from group to group to make the com- 
bined data significant. The tables, therefore, 
show the hours of work in the two large occupa- 
tional groups — manufacturing and mechanical 
pursuits, and trade and transportation. 

Before the facts about hours of labor in manufac- 
turing are accepted as showing present conditions, 
a word of caution is necessary. In 1912, a year 
after the investigation was made, a new law went 
into effect reducing the hours of work of women 
sixteen years of age and over in factories to fifty- 
four in a week and nine in a day. The new law, 
however, permitted under certain conditions a day 
of ten hours provided the week did not exceed 
fifty-four hours.* This has resulted in shortening 

* The law in effect when the investigation was made limited the 
working week in factories to sixty and the day to ten hours, with the 
possibiHty of extending the day to twelve hours, provided the week 
did not exceed sixty hours. 

66 



DAILY HOURS OF LABOR 

the day for women in those trades in which the 
normal schedule was more than ten hours. Be- 
cause of this change in the law, an investigation of 
the hours of labor of evening school pupils made 
after 19 12 would probably give different results 
from that made in 191 1. Doubtless fewer women 
would be found working ten hours or longer in 
factories. The law regulating hours of work in 
stores was changed in the spring of 19 14, provid- 
ing for a nine-hour day and a fifty-four-hour week.* 
The same law limited the work of children under 
sixteen to eight hours a day, forty-eight a week, 
and prohibited their employment at any time ex- 
cept between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. If these changes 
in the law be kept in mind, it is safe to regard the 
records of hours of labor of evening school pupils 
as representative in the main of conditions in 191 3. 
The daily hours reported by these working girls 
in 1910-1 1 are shown in Table 10. 

The table shows a marked difference between the 
two occupational groups — manufacturing and me- 
chanical pursuits, and trade and transportation. 
In manufacturing, only 15 per cent worked eight 
hours or less, as compared with 52 per cent in 
trade and transportation. That the better showing 
in the latter group, including many occupations 

* The law in effect when the investigation was made limited the 
work of girls between sixteen and twenty-one years of age in mer- 
cantile establishments, that is, stores, to sixty hours a week and ten 
hours a day, except that in order to make one shorter day the hours 
might be lengthened on five days of the week. The total must not 
exceed sixty hours. In 1913 the law was extended to protect women 
of twenty-one years or older. In 19 14, the hours were reduced. 

67 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

TABLE 10.— NORMAL DAILY HOURS OF WORK OF WOMEN 
ATTENDING PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS, EMPLOYED 
IN MANUFACTURING AND MECHANICAL PUR- 
SUITS AND IN TRADE AND TRANSPORTATION ^^ 





WOMEN WORKING SPECIFIED HOURS IN 


Daily hours of work ^ 


Manufacturing 

and mechanical 

pursuits 


Trade and trans- 
portation 




Number 


Per cent 


Number 


Percent 


Less than 8 hours 

8 hours .... 
More than 8 hours and less 

than 9 hours . 

9 hours and less than lo 
hours .... 

10 hours or more 


129 
401 

579 

1.950 
411 


3-7 
1 1 .6 

16.7 

56.2 
II. 8 


1.441 
646 

1,124 

760 

75 


35.6 
16.0 

27.8 

18.8 
1.8 


Total . . . . 


3.470^ 


100. 


4,046b 


100. 



^ Data for women employed in manufacturing and mechanical 
pursuits appear in detail in Appendix I, Table F, p. 197. 

b Data relative to hours of work have been tabulated only for 
women who were employed outside the home at date of investigation. 
Of the 4,519 who were or had been employed in manufacturing and 
mechanical pursuits, 190 were unemployed, three worked at home, 658 
were in an evening school for which the data as to hours were found 
to be inaccurate and were not tabulated, and of the 3,668 remain- 
ing, 198 did not supply information. Of the 4,505 in trade and 
transportation, 3 1 7 were unemployed, one worked at home, 22 were 
in an evening school for which the data were not tabulated, and 
of the 4,165 remaining, 119 did not supply information. 

^ This table shows hours on first five days of the week, not on 
Saturdays. 

besides sales work, is not an indication of short 
hours in New York stores is shown by a separate 
tabulation of hours in sales work.* Only 4.5 per 
cent of the girls in stores worked eight hours or 
less, while 50 per cent worked between eight and a 

* See Appendix 1, Table J, p. 201. 

68 



DAILY HOURS OF LABOR 

half and nine hours a day, 36 per cent between 
nine and nine and a half, 7.5 per cent working 
nine and a half hours or longer, and the remaining 
2 per cent working more than eight and less than 
eight and a half hours a day. Of the workers in 
factories, 68 per cent had a working day of nine 
hours or more, while only 12 per cent had the 
much talked of eight-hour day, which has for so 
long been the goal of the trade unionists. Slight- 
ly less than 4 per cent reported a working day of 
less than eight hours in factories.* 

In measuring the length of the day only the 
actual time of work is counted. The lunch period is 
deducted. From the hour a girl enters the work 
place in the morning until she leaves at night is 
thus a longer time than these data show. The time 
of beginning and leaving work is shown in Table 1 1 . 

To watch the crowds as they walk along the 
streets in New York every morning on their way to 
work is to have an interesting object lesson. The 
earliest of all are the factory girls, as shown by 
Table 11. Eighty-four out of every 100 of the 
evening school girls in this group have begun work 
before 8:30 a.m., and 23 of every hundred must 

* Data appear in detail in Appendix I, Table F, p. 197. These 
figures about hours of work are especially important as the informa- 
tion can not be secured from official reports. The United States 
census enumerators do not collect facts about hours. The labor 
department of New York State does not report the hours of work of 
women separately but includes men in the groups. Moreover, the 
hours in trade and transportation are not stated in the reports of the 
labor department for either men or women. The federal bureau of 
labor now collects and publishes facts about hours but not for all 
industries nor at regular intervals. 

69 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



TABLE 11.— HOURS OF BEGINNING AND LEAVING WORK 
IN MANUFACTURING AND MECHANICAL PURSUITS 
AND IN TRADE AND TRANSPORTATION, FOR WOM- 
EN ATTENDING PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS^ 





WOMEN BEGINNING OR LEAVING WORK 
AT SPECIFIED TIME IN 


Hour of beginning and 
leaving work ^ 


Manufacturing and 
mechanical pursuits 


Trade and trans- 
portation 




Number 


Percent 


Number 


Percent 


Hour of beginning work: 
Before 7 a.m. . 

7 a.m. and before 8 a.m. . 

8 a.m. and before 8.30 a.m. 
8.30 a.m. and before 9 a.m. 

9 a.m. or after 


3 

814 

2,201 

422 

117 


. I 

22.9 

61.8 

II. 9 

3-3 


3 

115 

1,056 

1,442 

1,498 


. I 

2.8 
25.7 
35.0 
36.4 


Total reporting . 


3.557* 


1 00.0 


4,114^ 


100. 


Hour of leaving work: 
Before 5 p.m. . 

5 p.m. and before 5.30 p.m. 
5.30 p.m. and before 6 p.m. 

6 p.m 

After 6 p.m. 


75 

595 

1,090 

1.723 
86 


2. 1 
16.7 
30.5 
48.3 

2.4 


168 

1.075 

1,171 

1,512 

179 


4.1 
26.2 
28.5 
36.8 

4-4 


Total reporting . 


3,569^ 


1 00.0 


4,105^ 


100.0 



^ Data relative to hours of work have been tabulated only for 
women who were employed outside the home at date of investigation. 
Of the 4,519 who were employed in manufacturing and mechanical 
pursuits, 190 were temporarily unemployed, three worked at home, 
658 were in an evening school for which the data as to hours were 
found to be inaccurate and were not tabulated, and of the 3,668 re- 
maining, 1 1 1 did not state hour of beginning work and 99 did not 
state hour of leaving. Of the 4,505 in trade and transportation, 317 
were unemployed, one worked at home, 22 were in an evening school 
for which the data were not tabulated, and of the 4,165 remaining, 
51 did not state hour of beginning work and 60 did not state hour of 
leaving. 

^ This table shows hour of leaving work on first five days of the 
week, not on Saturdays. 



70 



DAILY HOURS OF LABOR 

be in the workroom before eight. Then come 
the girls who work in offices and stores, of whom 
35 per cent must be on duty some time between 
8:30 and 9 a.m., while 36 per cent, chiefly clerical 
workers and stenographers, begin at 9 or a little 
later.* 

In the evening the order of procession is reversed, 
as the table shows. Of the girls employed in manu- 
facturing, only 19 per cent, as compared with 30 per 
cent in trade and transportation, stopped work be- 
fore half past five. Knowing how long a journey in 
crowded subway or elevated trains many of these 
girls must take before reaching home, one realizes 
the significance of the fact that 48 per cent of those 
employed in factories and 37 per cent in trade and 
transportation did not leave work until 6 o'clock. 
A small number in each group worked even later. 

Within these large groups, however, are included 
many different occupations, with widely different 
schedules of hours. Consider, for example, the 
main divisions of manufacturing pursuits.f The 
proportion working nine hours or more daily 
varied from 43 per cent in millinery to 68 per 
cent in the manufacture of textiles, 75 per cent in 
the men's clothing trade, and 82 per cent in the 
making of women's clothing. Similar differences 
are found among the different pursuits grouped 
together as trade and transportation. This means 
that as the occupational grouping varies from 

* For statistics of noon recess, see Appendix I, Table E, p. 196. 
t See Appendix I, Table F, p. 197. 

71 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

school to school and class to class, no two schools 
and, indeed, no two classes have exactly the same 
labor conditions with which to reckon. For ex- 
ample, in an evening high school in the Bronx, 
where 219 women and girls were employed in trade 
and transportation, as compared with 47 in manu- 
facturing, only 57 of the total of 266 in these two 
groups, or 2 1 per cent, worked nine hours or more a 
day, while in an elementary school in Avenue A, 
where the numbers in trade and transportation 
and in manufacturing were almost exactly equal, 
185 of a total of 373, or 50 per cent, worked nine 
hours or longer in a day. On the other hand, it is 
probable that the girls in the Bronx traveled 
farther to their work, thus counteracting the bene- 
fit of shorter hours at work. In general, how- 
ever, the problem of the long day's labor is most 
serious in the schools in which factory girls pre- 
dominate. 

In manufacturing industries, the proportion 
working eight hours depends in part upon the 
proportion under sixteen years of age. Because 
of the eight-hour law for children under sixteen 
in factories, a group of evening school pupils in a 
given occupation with a large proportion of children 
under sixteen among them will probably show a 
larger proportion working eight hours or less than 
would be typical of the same occupation, if all its 
workers had been included in the inquiry. For 
example, of the girls in evening schools who were 
employed in flower or feather factories, 36 per cent 

72 




Stenographers Practicing Speed 




Recreation for Juniors in Evening School 



DAILY HOURS OF LABOR 

were under sixteen,* as compared with 23 per cent 
in millinery. The proportion of all the milliners 
working eight hours or less was 19 per cent, as 
compared with 37 per cent in flower and feather 
factories. t The flower trade made a better showing 
than millinery in the matter of short working hours, 
because a larger proportion of the flower makers 
in the evening schools were under sixteen than of 
the milliners, and not because throughout the 
flower trade generally a shorter schedule of hours 
prevails than in millinery shops. Allowance for 
these diff^erences must be made in studying the sta- 
tistics. Nevertheless, it should be remembered 
that the data show the hours of work of girls 
actually attending evening school, even though in 
some instances it is probable that other working 
girls in the same trade, not in the schools, are 
working longer hours. Naturally, those who are 
employed shorter hours are better able to attend 
evening classes. 

The hours of work of fourteen- and flfteen-year- 
old children in evening schools are of special im- 
portance. A large part of the interest in industrial 
education today centers upon the possibility of 
giving so-called continuation schooling to these 
young wage-earners after they have left day school. 
The compulsory education law in New York now 
requires evening school attendance of all boys 

* For age groupings in different occupations, see Appendix I, 
Table G, p. 198. 

t See Appendix I, Table F, p. 197. 

73 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

under sixteen who go to work before they have 
graduated from the grammar grades.* While 
this provision does not apply to girls, its extension 
to them has not lacked advocates among principals 
and teachers in the schools, in spite of the fact that 
other educators and social workers contend that 
to add evening school work to the day's labor of 
children of fourteen and fifteen is cruel and un- 
profitable. 

The facts disclosed by the cards of the fourteen- 
and fifteen-year-old girls in this inquiry will be 
found to have a bearing not only upon educational 
problems but upon the enforcement of the labor 
law. One out of every five girls, 2,632 in all, was 
not yet sixteen years old. Of these, more than 
1,000 were employed in manufacturing and more 
than 700 in trade and transportation. Table 12 
shows the hours of work of the latter group. 

Of the 665 girls under sixteen in trade and trans- 
portation who reported their hours of work, only 
16 per cent worked less than eight hours daily and 
16 per cent had an eight-hour day, while 41 per 
cent worked between eight and nine hours, and 27 
per cent worked nine hours or more. Of the 98 
stenographers and bookkeepers counted in the 

*A recent amendment (New York Laws of 1913) provides that 
these boys may be required instead to attend part-time classes during 
the day, in cities or districts where such classes have been established. 
It provides, also, that girls under sixteen may be required to attend 
these part-time classes by day. University of the State of New York, 
Bulletin 535, Jan. 15, 1913, Albany, N. Y. Compulsory Education, 
p. 3. Experiments in such part-time classes are now being made in 
New York City. 

74 



DAILY HOURS OF LABOR 



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WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

group, 71 worked eight hours or less, while of 
the 293 other clerical workers, 175, or three-fifths, 
worked more than eight hours. Among the girls 
employed in stores, including cash girls, the largest 
group, 128 worked between eight and nine hours. 
Evidently the hours in these occupations are not 
short, even for girls under sixteen. The state law, 
indeed, at the time of the investigation permitted 
the employment of these children in mercantile 
establishments nine hours a day and prohibited 
their work before 8 a.m. and after 7 p.m.* 

In manufacturing establishments the law pro- 
vides that no child between the ages of fourteen 
and sixteen years shall be employed more than 
eight hours in any one day, or forty-eight in a 
week. Furthermore, the eight hours daily must 
be between 8 in the morning and 5 at night. 
Table 13 shows the hours of work of evening 
school girls under sixteen in factories. 

Of 898 girls under sixteen who were at work in 
factories at the date of the investigation and who 
recorded hours of labor, 592, or 66 per cent, were 
working longer than the law permitted. The 
violations shown in the table_ were not mere 
technical slips; they were serious and flagrant. Of 
the 592 girls working longer than eight hours, 393 
were working nine hours or more, as though the 

*In 1914, the mercantile law was brought into conformity with 
the factory law, in the regulation of the hours of children's work, 
restricting them to eight daily and forty-eight weekly, except that 
they may work'until 6 p.m. in stores, offices, and so forth, instead of 
stopping at 5 o'clock, as in factories. 

76 



DAILY HOURS OF LABOR 



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77 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

eight-hour law, whose enactment was brought 
about through the efforts of so many persons in- 
terested in the welfare of children, had never been 
placed on the statute books. Six per cent of these 
children were working ten hours or longer. In a 
number of instances two or three provisions of the 
law were violated in a single position, and thus the 
number of violations is larger than the number of 
workers experiencing them. Counting each viola- 
tion as one, as it would be counted in a court 
of law, the record cards revealed 1,201 violations 
of the law, of which the offense ''more than eight 
hours daily'' numbered 592; ''before 8 a.m.,'' 96; 
and "after 5 p.m.," 513. 

This is serious. The New York child labor law 
is regarded as a model — on paper. But the com- 
munity's responsibility does not end when the legis- 
lature passes a model law. The task of enforcement 
demands sustained public interest and effective 
machinery to make that interest felt. The state- 
ments of these girls in evening schools indicated 
very imperfect enforcement of the law designed 
to protect them against overwork in factories. 

To test the accuracy of the statements made 
on the record cards, 108, nearly one-fifth, of the 
girls who reported illegal hours were visited at 
home. They were questioned about their employ- 
ment and all its conditions, and no reference was 
made by the visitor to the eight-hour law. In this 
way the facts about hours were corroborated. The 
statements had shown that eight of these 108 were 

78 



DAILY HOURS OF LABOR 

employed before 8 a.m., 77 after 5 p.m., 90 more 
than eight hours daily, and 79 more than forty- 
eight hours weekly; 254 distinct violations in the 
group of 108 girls. Only 16 of these girls made 
statements to the visitor which failed to sustain 
the earlier report of violations, and of these, only 
six revised the report of hours, five were found to 
be employed in establishments not coming within 
the scope of the eight-hour law, and the five others 
were sixteen years old and had stated their age 
incorrectly on the cards. Of the 108 interviewed, 
not only did 92 repeat the facts previously re- 
corded, but 33 reported 107 other violations of this 
same law in other jobs which they had held. In 
10 cases the girls had begun work without employ- 
ment certificates, an additional type of violation 
not shown on the record card. 

These violations were not limited to any one 
trade nor to any one type of evening school. 
While the visits were confined to girls living in 
Manhattan, these included pupils in all of the 
evening high schools for girls in that borough, and 
in 14 evening elementary schools.* Table 1 3 shows 
long hours for children in the making of artificial 
flowers and feathers, women's clothing, millinery, 
printing and paper goods, and textiles. The chil- 
dren who were interviewed in order to verify their 
reports of illegal hours were at work in laundries, 
paper box factories, bookbinderies, dressmaking 
shops, and more than two dozen other trades. 

♦Numbers 4, 13, 14, 19, 23, 29, 38, 45, 59, 71, 72,92, 96, and 177. 

79 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

In exempting girls from required legal attendance 
at evening school, the danger of overtaxing their 
strength has been recognized.* The age limit of 
admittance has indeed been gradually raised during 
the years since the evening schools were first or- 
ganized. The board of education in its report for 
1865 recommended that no boy under fourteen and 
no girl under twelve be admitted to evening school. 
The presence of children kept young men and 
women away, it contended. At that time children 
were admitted without regard to age. ''The result 
is," said the report, "that we have every winter 
from five to six thousand children under twelve 
years of age in our evening schools."! Many of 
these were not more than eight years old. A large 
proportion were at work in stores or factories, and 
so overtaxed were they by the day's labor that they 
fell asleep in the class rooms. In 1866 children 
under twelve were excluded. 

Since those days the child labor law has put a 
stop to the employment of very young children in 
industry, and the compulsory education law keeps 

* Instances were discovered by our visitors in which the parents of 
girls under sixteen had, unfortunately, been given the impression that 
girls also are compelled to attend evening school. For example, the 
following postal card had been sent out by the schools: 

"To Parents: Under the provisions of the Compulsory Education 
Law, all children between fourteen and sixteen who leave day school 
to go to work must attend evening school. 

" Parents are requested to send word immediately to the principal 
of the day school in which evening school the child has registered." 
(Signed by a district superintendent.) (Also printed in Yiddish on 
lower half of card.) The wording, of course, should have been "all 
boys" instead of "all children." 

t Board of Education, New York City. Report of 1865; Appen- 
dix. Report of City Superintendent of Schools, p. 55. 

80 



DAILY HOURS OF LABOR 

them in day school until they are fourteen, so that 
the sleepy little eight-year-olds no longer trouble 
evening school teachers. But the fourteen-year-old 
wage-earning boy who has not graduated still 
causes trouble both when he fails to obey the law 
compelling him to continue to go to night school, 
and when he fulfils the arduous requirement. In 
one case he must be kept attending, and in the 
other he must be kept awake. Each annual report 
refers with slight verbal changes to "the difficul- 
ties attendant upon the enforcement of a law ap- 
proved neither by popular sentiment nor by the 
wisest educational considerations."* A forward 
step was taken when in 191 3 the law already men- 
tioned was passed, giving power to boards of educa- 
tion in the cities and districts of the state to require 
children under sixteen who are at work to attend 
part-time classes between the hours of 8 a.m. and 
5 p.m. Before this law can bring relief to children 
under sixteen in evening schools in New York .City, 
however, part-time classes by day must be estab- 
lished there. This will bring our educational 
policy more closely in accord with the real intent of 
the laws restricting the work of children to hours 
between 8 in the morning and 5 at night in fac- 
tories. 

Had it been possible to discover the amount of 
overtime which may have been added to the 
normal day's work of all girls over sixteen, doubt- 

* Superintendent of Schools, New York City. Fourteenth Annual 
Report, 191 1-12. Report on Evening Schools for the Year Ending 
July 31, 1912, p. 72. 

81 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

less many instances of exhaustingly long hours 
would have been brought to light. It is a common 
experience in working girls' clubs, as well as in 
public evening classes, to fmd the program up- 
set because some of the members are ''working 
late."* Study of state labor department reports 
shows that prosecutions for illegally long hours 
have been few in number, indicating lax enforce- 
ment. Those who watch the progress of labor 
bills in the legislature know that any attempt to 
strengthen the law meets with vigorous opposi- 
tion from employers. Yet protection of women 
and young girls against overwork is one of the most 
important tasks before the community. Until 
these laws are strengthened and enforced, wage- 
earning girls can not take full advantage of the 
education which the community endeavors to give 
them in evening classes. 

* In his report of 191 2-1 3, Dr. Albert Shiels, district superintendent 
in charge of evening schools in New York City, outlined the result of 
inquiries which he had caused to be made regarding reasons for irregu- 
lar attendance. In seven of the evening high schools, 1,362 pupils 
reported reasons for leaving before the close of the session, and of 
these, 542, or nearly 40 per cent, said that "night work including 
overtime," was responsible. In evening trade schools the same rea- 
son was the most prominent, being given by 299 of 1,006; in even- 
ing elementary schools, in classes for foreigners, cards sent to 200 
who had left brought replies from 159, of whom 105 said that they 
were working overtime. A group of pupils whose combined absences 
during the term had amounted to 865 evenings, were questioned as 
to the reasons, and overtime work was assigned as the cause of ab- 
sence on 324 of these 865 evenings. — Superintendent of Schools, New 
York City. Fifteenth Annual Report, 1912-1 3. Report on Evening 
Schools for the Year Ending July 31, 1913, pp. 67-71. 



82 



CHAPTER IV 
SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

DISCUSSION of industrial education usually 
centers about the class rooms of today and 
the children who are now in school. It 
emphasizes the need for giving these children 
adequate preparation for the demands which will 
probably be made upon them in their future 
careers as breadwinners. New light is thrown on 
the subject when this process of inquiry is reversed. 
Instead of theorizing about the probable future 
of the present school children, it is possible to dis- 
cover the past school careers of present wage-earn- 
ers. By this method we may gradually learn, 
among other things, whether the length of the 
schooling and the age when wage-earning began 
seem to have any bearing on the choice of an 
occupation. To gather this kind of information, 
however, is not easy, since it is not to be found in 
any documents but must be secured from the wage- 
earners themselves. The fact that so large a group 
of working girls answered questions about their 
previous schooling is one of the unique features of 
this study of evening school pupils. 

The questions on this subject were simple and 
detailed: 

83 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

How old were you when you began school? 

Did you graduate from elementary school? 

What grade were you in when you left? 

How old were you when you left? 

In what school did you attend first grade? (This 
question was repeated for every grade from the first to 
the eighth.) 

What day high schools have you attended? 

How many years did you attend? 

How old were you when you left? 

The most important material to be derived 
from the answers included the number of years 
in school; the types of schools attended and their 
location, whether in New York or in other parts of 
this country, or in foreign lands; the grade reached; 
and the age at leaving. Such facts show not only 
the educational foundation on which the evening 
schools must build, but they reveal certain condi- 
tions to be reckoned with in the development of a 
scheme of industrial training. 

In discussing vocational education the tendency 
seems to be to regard the population as stationary 
for all time; to assume that the wage-earners of 
today were school children in this community a 
few years ago, and that the school children of today 
will be working in the factories, stores, and offices 
of this city a few years from now.* Yet everyone 
knows how comparatively rare a specimen is the 

* For significant facts on this subject see Ayres, Leonard P. : Some 
Conditions Affecting Problems of Industrial Education in 78 American 
School Systems. Pamphlet published by Division of Education, 
Russell Sage Foundation, No. E 135, February, 1914. 

84 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

native New Yorker who still lives in the city of his 
birth, and how many of his fellow-citizens have 
come from the four quarters of the globe. Among 
the wage-earning women in New York City, in 
1900, 55 per cent were born in the United States, 
and scarcely more than one in six was native 
born of native parentage.* These figures do 
not show how many of those who are counted 
as native born were actually born in New York 
City, and how many in other sections of the United 
States. Of course some of those who were born in 
foreign lands came to New York as children and 
went to New York schools. Nevertheless, that 
many receive at least a part of their schooling else- 
where is shown in the records of evening school 
pupils. It should be remembered that as pupils 
in classes in English for foreigners were not as a rule 
included in the inquiry, the group investigated 
contains a larger proportion of native born than is 
found among all wage-earning women throughout 
the city; 68 per cent in our recordsf as compared 
with 55 per cent in the census statistics. Never- 
theless, even in the selected group investigated 
by us the diversity of schools attended is note- 
worthy, as Table 14 shows. 

According to this table, 71 per cent of the girls 

* Twelfth United States Census, 1900. Special Reports, Occupa- 
tions, p. 638. Of 367,437 wage-earning women, 56,027 were native 
born of native parents, 128,830 were native born of foreign parents, 
and 16,155 were colored (chiefly native born), making, roughly, a 
total of 200,000 native born. Of the girls employed in manufac- 
turing, 57.9 per cent were native born (76,694 of 132,535). 

^ See Table 2, p, 21. 

85 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



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Xi 


13 


U o 
O 
J3 








o 


o 


3 






•<-> 


W3 


c/l 



86 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

investigated had at some time attended public 
schools in New York City, and i8 per cent, private 
or parochial schools there, while 8.8 per cent had 
attended schools in other communities of the 
United States, and 1 5 per cent, schools in foreign 
lands. These groups are not mutually exclusive. 
A girl may have gone to school in Russia, Germany, 
or Italy, then in a small town in Connecticut, and 
finally she may have been found in a class room on 
the lower East Side of New York. She will be 
counted in each of the groups of schools reported. 
One girl, born in South Africa of German parent- 
age, went to school first in England, then in South 
Africa, again in England, and finally in New York. 
The differences between the different occupa- 
tional groups in Table 14 indicate what is perhaps 
the most valuable point brought out by this study. 
In trade and transportation and in professional 
service the proportion who have attended New 
York public schools is much larger than in manu- 
facturing, — 83 per cent in trade and transportation, 
79 per cent in professional service, and 64 per cent 
in manufacturing. If we make allowance for the 
fact that the proportion of native born in this 
group of factory workers is larger than in the same 
occupational group in the general population, it 
seems probable that not more than 60 per cent of 
the wage-earning girls in the factories of the city 
have ever attended a public school in New York. 
The bearing of this on plans to train children in 
this city for the trades which they are expected to 

87 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

enter later is obviously important. Evidently 
the day schools can not handle alone the problem of 
vocational training. For a large proportion of our 
wage-earners the evening schools represent the 
only opportunity to come under the influence of 
our system of public education, whether the aim 
be industrial education or academic instruction. 
Table 1 5 gives added emphasis to the facts already 
cited by showing the location of the last day school 
attended by these evening school pupils. 

A New York public school was named as the 
last day school attended by 67 per cent of the 
group, and a parochial or private school in New 
York by 1 2 per cent. Again the differences between 
different occupational groups are marked. In 
manufacturing, 24 per cent had had their last 
schooling in a foreign country and 57 per cent in 
New York public schools, as compared with 81 per 
cent in New York public schools in the group 
employed in trade and transportation. The figures 
in this table take no account of special courses 
attended later, as in business schools, art classes, or 
normal schools. The aim was to show rather where 
the basic education was secured before any special- 
ized training was begun. 

That the school histories of these girls were 
varied as their families may have journeyed from 
one community to another has already been indi- 
cated. The proportion who received their entire 
schooling in New York public schools is shown in 
Table 16. 

88 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 



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3 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



TABLE 16.— PROPORTION OF WOMEN ATTENDING PUB- 
LIC EVENING SCHOOLS, WHOSE ONLY PREVIOUS DAY 
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE WAS IN NEW YORK 
PUBLIC SCHOOLS, BY PRINCIPAL 
OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS 





WOMEN WHO HAD ATTENDED 






New 








Principal occupational group 


York 






All 




public 
schools 


Other 


No 


women 




schools^ 


school 






only 








Manufacturing and mechan- 










ical pursuits 










Number 


1,562 


1,825 


34 


3.421 


Per cent 


45-7 


53-3 


1 .0 


lOO.O 


Trade and transportation 










Number 


2,948 


1.447 


4 


4,399 


Per cent 


67.0 


32.9 


. I 


1 00.0 


Domestic and personal service 










Number 


59 


367 


45 


471 


Per cent 


12.5 


77-9 


9.6 


1 00.0 


Professional service 










Number 


109 


84 




193 


Per cent 


56.5 


43-5 




1 00.0 


No gainful occupation ^ 










Number 


1,842 


1,407 


12 


3,261 


Per cent 


56.5 


43 I 


•4 


1 00.0 


Total 










Number 


6,520 


5-130 


95 


I '.745'' 


Per cent 


55-5 


43-7 


.8 


100,0 



^ Women who had attended New York public day schools and also 
some other school or schools, are included in this column. 

^ For further explanation, see footnote, p. 36. 

*^ Of the 13,141 women included in the study, 896 were in evening 
schools for which data as to all day schools attended at any time 
were incomplete and were not tabulated. Of the 12,245 remaining, 
500 did not supply information. 

The New York public school system was wholly 
responsible for the training of 6,520, or 56 per cent, 

90 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

of the entire group investigated. In manufactur- 
ing, the proportion educated in New York public 
schools was only 46 per cent, and in trade and 
transportation it was 67 per cent. 

Because of the diversity of schools attended, 
throughout this country and in others, it would be 
unwise to attempt a tabulation of grades reached 
which would include the whole group investigated. 
The grading is not uniform even in different cities 
of the United States, and for other countries no 
common basis of instruction could be found. 
Concerning those whose last schooling was in New 
York public schools, however, some interesting 
statistics are available. 

One of the most baifling problems of industrial 
training is the fact that many children leave the 
elementary grades as soon as the law permits them 
to go to work. The schools are expected to ac- 
complish so large a task as "preparation for life'* 
in so brief a period as lies between babyhood and 
the fourteenth birthday. The New York state 
labor law prohibits the employment of children 
under fourteen, and requires that those who go to 
work between the ages of fourteen and sixteen must 
be provided with employment certificates. To 
secure an employment certificate, the child must 
have accomplished satisfactorily a specified amount 
of schooling. Until 191 3 it was necessary to have 
reached the 5B grade, the fifth year of school- 
ing, but an amendment to the law in that year 
required the completion of the work of the first 

91 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

six years of a public elementary school or its 
equivalent.* 

In the sixth grade of New York public schools 
the children are studying percentage and its 
applications, the geography of Europe, American 
history since the war of 1812, English, music, 
drawing, and if they are girls, sewing. Gymnastic 
exercises and hygiene are also part of the cur- 
riculum. Two more years lie between them and 
graduation, and in that time they would be 
initiated further into the mysteries of all these 
studies. In mathematics, for example, the sixth 
grade children have learned nothing of simple 
interest, ratio and proportion, equations, and 
square root, which are taught in the seventh and 
eighth grades. In history the sixth grade child 
has not extended his knowledge beyond the United 
States. The study of European history begins in 
the seventh grade. f 

Of course, these statements taken from the 
printed outline of the prescribed course of study 
can not be accepted literally as an inventory of the 
facts collected in the brain of the sixth grade boy or 
girl. The content of a simple lesson in English 
composition may be rich in historical facts, or 

* In New York the grades are numbered consecutively from one to 
eight, beginning with the lowest. Each grade is divided into two 
parts, designated as A and B, the two together covering the school 
year. A normal pupil is expected to complete one grade in a year, 
so that if he begins at the age of six he may accomplish his eight 
grades and graduate at fourteen. 

t Course of Study for the Elementary Schools of the City of New 
York, 191 1. Department of Education. 

92 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

nature study, or ethical principles, and the cur- 
riculum can never be more than a series of guide 
posts. Nevertheless, it is obvious that not a very 
large part of the road to knowledge can be traversed 
between the sixth and the fourteenth years of child- 
hood, even if eight grades be completed in that time. 
Table 1 7 shows the grade reached by 7,854 girls who 
last attended New York City public schools and 
who have since returned to evening classes. 

The table shows the grade reached in school by 
women now at work in the specified occupational 
groups, and reveals great differences in amount of 
previous schooling between workers in the dif- 
ferent occupations represented. In professional 
service 72 per cent were high school graduates; in 
manufacturing and mechanical pursuits, a small 
fraction of i per cent (.2 per cent). Among the 
factory girls one-third left school when in the 
sixth grade or below, and nearly three-fifths be- 
fore reaching the eighth grade. In trade and 
transportation a large proportion, 76 per cent, 
finished the elementary grades and 28 per cent 
went to high school, only 2.1 per cent graduat- 
ing, however. In the ranks of women at work in 
domestic and personal service only 23 per cent 
had graduated from elementary school, and only 
33 per cent had ever gone beyond the seventh grade. 
Apparently the child who leaves elementary school 
before graduating is most likely to earn her living 
in factory work or in domestic or personal service, 
while if she graduates she will have more chance of 

93 



TABLE 17.— GRADE AT LEAVING SCHOOL FOR WOMEN 
ATTENDING PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS, WHO LAST 
ATTENDED DAY SCHOOL IN A NEW YORK PUBLIC 
SCHOOL, BY PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS 





WOMEN 


EMPLOYED IN 








t3 i2 

c -t: 




a> 








Grade at leaving schoc 


acturing a 
nical pursu 


rade and 
nsportation 


6 


> 

c 
.2 


II 

n in 

o3 


c 

E 


< 




C "^ 


H2 


S2 


in 

2 


^ ^ 






S E 






D- 






Number who left wher 


I 












In first grade . 


4 










4 


In second grade 


9 


I 


3 




4 


17 


In third grade . 


10 


1 


2 




8 


21 


In fourth grade 


51 


1 1 


5 




33 


100 


In fifth grade . 


196 


44 


13 




96 


349 


In sixth grade . 


397 


181 


9 




185 


772 


In seventh grade 


528 


353 


15 


3 


343 


1,242 


In eighth grade 


196 


255 


7 


4 


189 


651 


Elem. sch. graduat 


e 499 


1,683 


1 1 


20 


682 


2,895 


High school non- 














graduate 


133 


901 


4 


•4 


524 


1,576 


High school graduat 


2 4 


74 


I 


107 


41 


227 


Total . 


2,027 


3,504 


70 


148 


2,105 


7,854'^ 


Per cent who left wher 


1 












In first grade . 


.2 


c 








. I 


In second grade 


■4 


c 


4-3 




.2 


.2 


In third grade . 


•5 


.... 


2.9 




•4 


•3 


In fourth grade 


2-5 


•3 


71 




1.6 


1-3 


In fifth grade . 


9.7 


1-3 


18.6 




4.6 


4-4 


In sixth grade . 


19.6 


5-2 


12.9 




8.8 


9.8 


In seventh grade 


26.0 


10. 1 


21.4 


2.0 


16. 3 


15.8 


In eighth grade 


9.7 


7-3 


10. 


2.7 


9.0 


«-3 


Elem. sch. graduate 


24.6 


48.0 


157 


135 


32 -3 


36.8 


High school non- 














graduate 


6.6 


25.7 


5-7 


9-5 


24.9 


20. 1 


High school graduat 


e .2 


2. 1 


'•4 


72.3 


1.9 
100. 


2.9 


Total . 


. I 00 . 


1 00.0 


100. 


1 00.0 


100. 



^ For further explanation, see footnote, p. 36. 

^Of the 8,174 who last attended day school in a New York public 
school (see Table 15), 155 were in two evening schools which sup- 
plied no further information as to schooling, and of the 8,019 re- 
maining, 165 did not state grade at leaving. For years in high 
school, see Appendix I, Table I, p. 200. ^ Less than .05 per cent. 

94 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

employment in trade and transportation, and if 
she finishes high school she is on the road to some 
form of professional work. Or again, interpreting 
the figures from another point of view, we seem 
justified in saying that it is only in the first seven 
grades that the schools under present conditions 
are in contact with the majority of the future em- 
ployes in factory industries. Nevertheless, in the 
different branches of manufacturing the schooling 
of employes varies widely, as Table i8 shows. 

Of the milliners, 41 per cent left school before 
reaching the eighth grade; in dressmaking, 55 per 
cent; and in the artificial flower and feather trade 
and in bookbinding, 49 per cent, as compared with 
79 per cent in paper box making. The elementary 
school graduates, including those who went to high 
school, numbered 49 per cent in millinery, 39 per 
cent in dressmaking, 38 per cent in flower and 
feather making, 29 per cent in bookbinding, and 
only 16 per cent in paper box making. 

These figures tempt one to analyze available 
data showing comparative wages paid in these 
different trades, as a basis for estimating the com- 
parative amount of skill required. In 1905, cen- 
sus enumerators copied payrolls showing actual 
earnings received by workers in a representative 
week of the year in a large number of manufac- 
turing establishments. The facts presented for 
women workers in New York State* show that the 

* United States Census, Bulletin 93, Earnings of Wage-Earners, 
Manufactures, pp. 98 and 150. 1905. 

95 



TABLE 18.— GRADE AT LEAVING SCHOOL FOR WOMEN 

ATTENDING PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS, WHO LAST 

ATTENDED DAY SCHOOL IN A NEW YORK PUBLIC 

SCHOOL, EMPLOYED IN FIVE SELECTED 

MANUFACTURING PURSUITS ^b 





WOMEN* EMPLOYED 


IN 










Artifi- 






Grade at leaving 
school 


Milli- 
nery 


Dress- 
making 


cial 
flower 

and 
feather 
making 


Book- 
binding 


Paper 

box 

making 


Number who left when 












In first grade . 












In second grade 




3 








In third grade . 


I 


I 




I 




In fourth grade 


2 


4 


4 


2 


2 


In fifth grade . 


6 


22 


18 


2 


12 


In sixth grade . 


19 


30 


31 


14 


22 


In seventh grade 


32 


62 


43 


21 


16 


In eighth grade 


14 


13 


26 


18 


3 


Elem. sch. graduate 


48 


65 


57 


18 


9 


High school non- 












graduate 


21 


19 


16 


6 


I 


High school graduat 


e 2 






. 




Total . 


145 


219 


195 


82 


65 


Per cent who left whei 


1 










In first grade . 


• . 










In second grade 


. 


I 








In third grade . 


I 


. . 




I 




In fourth grade 


I 


2 


2 


2 


3 


In fifth grade . 


4 


10 


9 


2 


18 


In sixth grade . 


13 


14 


16 


18 


33 


In seventh grade 


22 


28 


22 


26 


25 


In eighth grade. 


10 


6 


13 


22 


5 


Elem. sch. graduate 


5 33 


30 


30 


22 


14 


High school non- 












graduate 


15 


9 


8 


7 


2 


High school graduat 


e I 










Total . 


100 


100 


100 


100 


1 100 



* Data appear in detail in Appendix I, Table K, p. 207. 

*> Information was not supplied by 9 of the 1 54 milliners, 10 of the 
229 dressmakers, 23 01 the 218 flower and feather makers, 3 of the 
85 bookbinders, and 4 of the 69 paper box makers, who last attended 
day school in a New York public school. 

96 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

average weekly earnings of milliners were $7.63; 
makers of women's clothing, $7.68; artificial flower 
and feather makers, $6.20;* bookbinders, $6,13; 
paper box makers, $5.65; and of women in all 
manufacturing pursuits grouped together, $6.54. 

Only detailed study of these trades would enable 
us safely to conclude that these averages indicate 
the comparative degree of skill required in these 
trades, and it would be another long step in the 
argument to say that the higher the grade reached 
in school, the better the chance to enter a skilled 
occupation. It may be only a coincidence that in 
paper box making the average wage is lower than 
in any other of these five trades, while among paper 
box makers in evening schools the general level of 
education as measured by the proportion of pupils 
who have never passed beyond the seventh grade 
is also the lowest. Nevertheless, the coincidence 
suggests an interesting line of inquiry to deter- 
mine the comparative demand in different voca- 
tions for the kind of training now offered by the 
schools. 

In the records of progress made in day school, 
it is possible to discover further clues as to an ap- 
parent connection between the adaptability of a 
pupil to the present school training and the later 
choice of an occupation. To avoid the danger of 
comparing groups trained in different types of 
schools and different communities, the group dis- 

* Given for the whole United States, but as three-fourths of the 
industry is in New York City, the figures are indicative of wage rates 
there. 

97 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

cussed will be limited to those who received their 
entire schooling in New York public schools. It 
will be recalled that this group numbered 6,520, or 
56 per cent of the number investigated.* As 
already outlined, the pupil who makes normal 
progress in a New York public school is expected 
to complete one grade in a year. By comparing 
the number of years in the school life with the 
grade reached we may, therefore, measure the 
rate of progress. A pupil who has attended school 
six years may be rated as normal if she has reached 
grade 6B or 7A, slow if in a lower grade, and rapid 
if she has advanced further. Table 19 shows the 
progress made in day school by women in different 
occupational groups. 

Of the whole group, 34 per cent showed normal 
progress, 22 per cent rapid, and 44 per cent re- 
tarded progress. The proportion of the retarded 
was highest in domestic and personal service, 74 
per cent; with manufacturing second, 59 per cent; 
and women without any occupation third, 46 per 
cent. Women in professional service showed the 
smallest proportion retarded, and the largest pro- 
portion whose progress had been rapid. Thus it 
appears to be the girls whose present occupations 
require pre-eminently the use of the hands who 
during their school days were least able to keep 
pace with the curriculum. ''There was no larnin' 
in her," said one mother when asked why her 
daughter left school. 

* See Table i6, p. 90. 
98 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

TABLE 19.— PROGRESS MADE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 
BY WOMEN ATTENDING PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS, 
WHO HAD ATTENDED NEW YORK PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS ONLY, BY PRINCIPAL OCCUPA- 
TIONAL GROUPS 



Principal occupational group 


WOMEN IN EACH SPECIFIED 

OCCUPATIONAL GROUP 
WHOSE PROGRESS HAD BEEN 


All 
women 




Rapid 


Normal 


Retarded 




Manufacturing and mechan- 
ical pursuits 

Number 

Per cent 
Trade and transportation 

Number 

Per cent 
Domestic and personal service 

Number 

Per cent 
Professional service 

Number 

Per cent 
No gainful occupation * 

Number 

Per cent 


206 

147 
703 

26.9 

6 
12.2 

28 
30.1 

307 
19.7 


369 
26.4 

980 
37-5 

7 
143 

35 
37.6 

541 
34-7 


824 
58.9 

929 
35.6 

36 
73-5 

30 
32.3 

710 
45.6 


1.399 
100. 

2,612 
100. 

49 
1 00.0 

93 
1 00.0 

1.558 
1 00.0 


Total 
Number 
Per cent 


1,250 
21.9 


1.932 
33.8 


2,529 
44-3 


5.7n«» 
100. 



* For further explanation, see footnote, p. 36. 
°0f the 6,520 whose entire elementary schooling was in the New 
York public schools, 809 did not supply information. 

The learned in the population have, as a rule, 
had long school careers lasting, perhaps, from 
kindergarten at the age of five or six until gradua- 
tion from college at twenty-one or twenty-two. 
Following the college course comes frequently some 
form of professional training. The educational 

99 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

process, aside from professional courses, covers 
fifteen or sixteen years. For those who have had 
such opportunities it is exceedingly difficult to 
imagine how different would have been their 
development in character, mentality, and physical 
vitality, had their school life been cut short after 
eight years instead of sixteen. For the majority 
of wage-earning girls in New York, schooling is a 
comparatively brief experience. Table 20 gives the 
facts for the girls investigated in evening school. 
The table includes all the girls who gave informa- 
tion on this point and not only those who had 
attended New York schools. 

The proportion who had had nine years or more 
of schooling was 33 per cent for the whole group, 
but only 23 per cent for the group in manufacturing 
and 24 per cent for those in domestic and personal 
service, as compared with 38 per cent in trade and 
transportation and 81 per cent in the professions. 
That many stay in the schools as long as seven or 
eight years is doubtless due, in New York at least, 
to the child labor law forbidding the employ- 
ment of children under fourteen. In studying the 
records showing the age at leaving school, therefore, 
the significant year to watch is the fifteenth, 
the earliest moment when a child may go to work. 
The data obtained appear in Table 2 1 . 

The table includes, of course, older women who 
went to work before the present law was in force, 
and others who went to school in foreign lands or 
in districts of this country where the child labor 

100 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 











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102 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

and compulsory education laws are not the same 
as in New York. Not all, therefore, were restrained 
by law from going to work before they were 
fourteen. Of all the girls considered, more than 
half, 54 per cent, had left at the age of fourteen or 
younger, and only 20 per cent stayed until they 
were sixteen or older. The best showing is made 
by the professional workers, with 45 per cent 
having attended school till they were eighteen or 
older, as compared with i .2 per cent in manufac- 
turing and 2.2 per cent in trade and transporta- 
tion. Of the girls in manufacturing, 65 per cent 
left at the age of fourteen or younger, as compared 
with 49 per cent in trade and transportation. That 
many in both these groups stayed until they were 
fifteen was undoubtedly due in part to their 
failure earlier to meet the educational requirement, 
as well as the age test, for an employment certifi- 
cate. 

Once again it is important to call attention to the 
differences in the various trades and occupations 
which are grouped together in the table.* As we 
have noted, of all the girls included in the investi- 
gation, 54 per cent had left school at the age of 
fourteen or younger, and in manufacturing the 
proportion was 65 per cent. Some of the industries 
in which the proportion reporting this early ending 
of their school days was larger than the average 
in manufacturing, were the making of men's cloth- 
ing, 78 per cent; work on confectionery, tobacco, 

* See Appendix I, Tables H and J, pp. 199, 201. 
103 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

and food products, 67 per cent; the white goods 
trade, 70 per cent; textile manufacture, 68 per cent; 
and paper box making, 76 per cent. 

Likewise, differences appear in the diverse occu- 
pational groups listed under the general name of 
trade and transportation. For the whole group, 
the proportion leaving school at fourteen or 
younger was 49 per cent. For workers in stores 
this proportion was much greater than the aver- 
age, 61 per cent; for stenographers and book- 
keepers it was less, 45 per cent; and for general 
clerical workers without a knowledge of stenogra- 
phy, 47 per cent. These figures are precisely what 
one might expect from a knowledge of the edu- 
cational requirements now generally prevailing 
for girls in these various occupations. Desirable 
as it will be some day to have the rank and file of 
salesgirls and even cash girls better trained for 
their work, it is a matter of observation that at 
present the girl who is to survive as a stenographer 
must stay in school longer than must a salesgirl. 
Why the trades listed in the preceding paragraph 
demand so much less of their workers in the way of 
previous schooling than do other manufacturing 
pursuits is not equally clear, although it is a 
matter of common opinion that. these industries 
offer mainly unskilled and poorly paid work to 
women. 

The occupations in which it is apparently easy 
for young workers to secure a foothold may be 
discovered by studying the age grouping in the 

104 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

different lines of work represented in the evening 
schools.* Those occupations having the largest 
proportion of workers under sixteen were employ- 
ment in stores, 38 per cent ; artificial flower making, 
36 per cent; textile manufacture, 33 per cent; 
button making, 33 per cent; paper box making, 33 
per cent; the preparation of hair goods, 32 per 
cent; and the making of confectionery, food 
products, and tobacco, 31 percent. As might be 
anticipated, these are also the industries employing 
a large proportion of girls who left school while in 
the lower grades. 

The groups in which the proportion of girls under 
sixteen is smallest were professional work, 2.1 per 
cent; stenography, 6. i per cent; shirtwaist making, 
II per cent; dressmaking, 15 per cent; clerical 
work, 18 per cent; manufacturing white goods, 19 
per cent; and making men's clothing, 20 per cent. 
In general, these are occupations which require a 
special equipment or trades which employ machine 
operators in large numbers. 

At present, children between the ages of fourteen 
and sixteen are the subject of special discussion by 
school authorities and investigators in many com- 
munities. In New York City alone somewhat 
more than 40,000 children apply for employment 
certificates in a year, of whom approximately 
20,000 are girls. The exodus of thousands from 
the seventh grade or earlier is a fact so well estab- 
lished as to receive a special title, ''mortality in 

* Appendix I, Table G, p. 198. 
105 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

the elementary grades." The fact causes concern 
not only because it indicates premature ending of 
the school career, but because these are the 
children who are immediately absorbed by the 
industries of the city. They are facing at a 
critical age all the difficulties of transition from 
school to work. Investigators of industry have 
been piling up evidence to show that usually the 
work which fourteen- and fifteen-year-old children 
do is not educational, nor is it the first rung of the 
ladder of success. School careers are cut short for 
an industrial experience which proves later to be a 
positive handicap in the effort to find a really good 
job. But quite aside from the industrial condi- 
tions which a fourteen-year-old wage-earner en- 
counters, her employment raises the question: Is 
it best for the child and the community that she 
should go to work at all before the sixteenth birth- 
day, and what conditions are driving young chil- 
dren into the labor market? 

Naturally the first answer which comes to mind 
is that children go to work because their families 
need their earnings. Much time has been spent 
by several investigators* to discover how many 

* Diversity in the findings of investigators indicates the difficulties 
in the way of accuracy. Among other reports on this subject may 
be mentioned: 

Flexner, Mary: A Plea for Vocational Training. The Survey, XXII: 
650-655 (August 7, 1909), No estimate made by the author. 
Apparently 380 out of a total of 530, or 72 per cent, left school be- 
cause of economic pressure. 

Adams, Jessie B.: The Working Girl from the Elementary School 
in New York. Charities and The Commons, XIX: 161 7 (February 22, 
1908). — "That 'money was needed' was voluntarily given as a reason 

106 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

children who leave school for work at the age of 
fourteen do so because of so-called economic pres- 
sure. The determination is a difficult one, pri- 
marily because no one yet knows just how to 
measure economic pressure. Presumably it is the 
difference between the actual income and the 
amount necessary to maintain an adequate stand- 
more often than any other, and a real need for the child's earnings 
often exists." 

Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage-Earners in the 
United States. Vol. VII, Conditions under which Children Leave 
School to Go to Work, p. 46. United States Senate Document No. 
645. — The table shows that out of a total of 620, 186 (30 per cent) 
left school because of economic pressure. 

United States Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 17, 1913. Whole 
number 525. A Trade School for Girls: A Preliminary Investigation 
in a Typical Manufacturing City, Worcester, Mass., p. 27. — "Of 214 
families studied, fully one-half the girls were not forced to curtail 
their education, and 55 per cent were living in really comfortable 
homes." 

Report of the Massachusetts Commission on Industrial and Tech- 
nical Education, April, 1906. — "Forty per cent of these families de- 
clared they wanted their children to remain in school; and what is 
more tragic, 66 per cent of them could have kept them there." 
(p. 44.) 

"The report of those who left school from necessity is 2,450 out of 
5,459" (44 per cent). (P. 86.) 

Talbert, Ernest L. : Opportunities in School and Industry for 
Children of the Stockyards District, p. 14. Chicago, University of 
Chicago Press, 1912. — "Out of this number (330), 171 (52 per cent) 
gave lack of money as the prime cause of leaving school." 

Barrows, Alice P.: Report of the Vocational Guidance Survey, 
December, 19 12, p. 7. Public Education Association Bulletin 9, re- 
printed from the Fourteenth Annual Report of the City Superinten- 
dent of Schools, New York City, 1912. — "On the basis of the govern- 
ment's standard of income, only 20 per cent of the children had to 
leave on account of economic pressure." 

Woolley, Helen T. : Charting Childhood in Cincinnati, The Survey, 
XXX: 601 (August 9, 1913). — "Only 27 per cent of the families were 
believed to require the earnings of the children, while 73 per cent had 
apparently no such economic need." 

Superintendent of Schools, New York City. Fourteenth Annual 
Report, 1911-12. Report on Evening Schools for the Year Ending 
July 31, 1912, p. 75. — "Seventy per cent of a thousand boys, there- 
fore, did not leave school voluntarily." 

107 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

ard of living. But the amount necessary for an 
adequate standard of living is not yet scientifically 
established. Furthermore, the task of determining 
the actual income in a wage-earner's household is 
delicate and often impossible, since amid all the 
fluctuations in employment the wage-earner him- 
self does not know how much his earnings amount 
to in a year. Therefore, the measurement of eco- 
nomic pressure depends on a comparison of two 
indeterminate quantities. In reality, it is one 
phase of the dilTicult task of measuring the extent 
of poverty in a community. In the absence of more 
scientific data, the statements of the children 
themselves and their parents throw light on the 
situation. After all, the members of the family 
know better than an outsider whether or not they 
feel economic pressure. 

This was the informal method followed in ques- 
tioning 1 08 girls who had left school before the age 
of sixteen, and who were interviewed at home in 
the course of our investigation. As many as 90 of 
these girls were the product of New York public 
schools, 18 having recently left parochial school. 
Sixteen of those who had been pupils in a public 
school in New York had reached the eighth grade, 
16 had graduated, and seven had gone to high 
school for brief periods. The remaining 51, a 
large majority in a group of 90, had left school 
while in the seventh grade or earlier. The rea- 
sons why they left school before they were six- 
teen, as stated by the girls and their parents, are 

108 



TABLE 22.— REASONS FOR LEAVING DAY SCHOOL BEFORE 
THE AGE OF SIXTEEN, FOR 108 GIRLS ATTEND- 
ING PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS ^ 



GIRLS WHO LEFT 
SCHOOL WHEN AT- 
TENDING NEW YORK 
PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



Reason for leaving day 
school 



Girls' earnings necessary at 
home: 
Family could not afford to 

let her stay . 
Father ill, out of work . 

Total .... 



Before 
gradua- 
tion from 
elemen- 
tary 
school 



At 

gradua- 
tion or 
after 

entering 

high 

school 



Girls 

who 

left 
school 

when 
attend- 
ing 

New 

York 

parochial 

schools 



All other reasons: 

To help others to get an 
education 

Parents wished her to stop 

Wished to go to work . 

Had begun work in vaca- 
tion .... 

Backward and family took 
her out, or advised by 
teachers to leave . 

Disagreed with teacher . 

Thought graduation time 
to leave, or saw no ad- 
vantage in staying 

To go to business school, 
no higher grade in the 
school, discouraged, 
course too long, another 
year added . 

Because other girls left . 

Not strong 

Needed at home 



33 
3 



36 



10 



Total 



Grand total 



31 



•3 



10 



67 



23 



All 
girls 



a Based on the statements of the girls and their parents. 

109 



49 

5 



54 



10 
2 



13 



54 



108 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

listed in Table 22. In several instances more than 
one reason was assigned, but the one which seemed 
predominant was selected for the table. 

Exactly half the number said that they left 
school to go to work because their earnings were 
needed at home. The others assigned varied rea- 
sons, some of them trivial, but most of them sig- 
nificant. Marion, who was spending her days in 
an embroidery factory cutting out lace, left because 
she did not care for study and her mother thought 
it was useless to force her to be a student. Sarah, 
in contrast, had wanted to be educated. " I was 
very smart in school but I lost interest when my 
mother was sick. When someone is sick at home 
your brain is at home.'* 

For Mabel, a little messenger in a very large 
department store, the reason for leaving school 
was not obscure. She applied for working papers 
on her fourteenth birthday. "Some people can 
afford to keep their children in school but where 
there's so many you can't," said her tired mother, 
while four babies, aged one, three, five, and seven, 
tugged at her skirts. She was preparing a meager 
lunch for them and for three others who were in 
school. Mabel was the oldest. For hard work in a 
butcher shop the father was earning |i2 a week, a 
wage which did not stretch far over the needs of 
eight children. The children all looked anemic, 
with weak eyes like their mother's. Mabel could 
not learn a trade because of poor eyesight, her 
mother explained. ''We tried living in the country 

no 




In the Pattern Drafting Class 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

once," said she. ''We heard so much about its 
being better for the children. We were two years on 
Long Island, but we couldn't get along at all. My 
husband was out of work and we got discouraged." 

Mabel worked hard. She traveled from 123d 
Street and First Avenue to Sixth Avenue and 
Thirty-fourth Street, leaving home a few minutes 
before 7 a.m. From 8 in the morning until 6 at 
night, nine and one-quarter hours besides the three- 
quarters of an hour recess at noon, she served as 
messenger at the beck and call of the saleswomen 
in the huge department store, which paid her a 
wage of $3.50 a week. Reaching home for a hasty 
meal, she must hurry off for her walk 18 blocks to 
the south and three to the west, more than a mile, 
to evening school. "She gets home after ten,'* 
said her mother. "She's very tired at night." 

It should be observed that Mabel was not an 
orphan nor the sole support of a widowed mother. 
In this respect she was like the majority of the 
108 girls under sixteen who, as outlined in Chap- 
ter III, were questioned about long hours of 
work. Seven of these girls were boarding or 
living with relatives who were not members of 
their immediate family, while 10 1 were in their 
own homes, and in 77 of these homes the father 
was at work and contributing to the family in- 
come. In 16 of the 24 other households the 
father was dead, in two he had deserted, and in 
six he was ill or "too old to work." In 1 5 families 
the mother was a wage-earner outside the home, 

III 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

and in four she earned money by janitor service 
in the tenement in which the family Hved. The 
noteworthy fact here is that in three-fourths of 
these families of fourteen-year-old wage-earners 
the fathers were at work. If the earnings of the 
children were really necessary, it is a significant 
comment on the wages paid their fathers. 

The statistics of a larger group of evening school 
pupils give some indirect evidence as to whether 
all the children who leave school early do so in 
order to become wage-earners. Of 2,632 girls 
under sixteen in evening schools, 803, or nearly 
one in three, made no reply to the question: What 
do you do?* In some cases, as already pointed 
out in an earlier chapter, this may have been a 
careless omission. It should be remembered, 
however, that one condition of entrance to evening 
school is inability to attend day school, and these 
young girls, knowing this fact, would have been 
likely to record their occupations if they had had 
any. Furthermore, the compulsory education law 
requires children between fourteen and sixteen to 
attend day school if they are not at work. In some 
cases the evening school record contained some 
such definite statement as "never employed." 
Moreover, at that age a girl is proud of being a 
wage-earner and likely to take every opportunity 
to tell others that she is at work. For all these 
reasons, and because home visits to a number of 
these evening school girls have resulted in corrobo- 

* See Appendix I, Table G, p. 198. 
112 



SCHOOLING OF WAGE-EARNING GIRLS 

ration of the records, it seems safe to assume 
that the facts are substantially correct; namely, 
that these girls were not at work and that whatever 
may have been the reasons for leaving day school, 
the certainty of an immediate job was not one of 
them. This seems to indicate that the day schools 
are losing girls under sixteen who have no occupa- 
tion in view and no intention of going to work 
immediately. Economic pressure is evidently not 
the controlling motive for these girls. 

The function of the evening schools in making 
good the deficiencies in early schooling has been 
recognized for many years, and wage-earners have 
joined the classes with this purpose very definitely 
in view. A study of these evening school pupils 
reveals information significant for the elementary 
schools. For instance, full recognition of the fact 
that for the present, at least, eight or nine years 
only can be spared for the entire school life of 
thousands of children should undoubtedly lead 
to good results for the elementary schools. By 
placing in the lower grades the best teaching 
force available, a fair proportion of the children 
who now drop out too early might be induced 
to stay longer, while for others the eight or nine 
years of schooling, brief as it is, might be made 
more valuable. 

Furthermore, if vocational courses of any kind 
are to be taught in schools of elementary grade, 
the evening schools, through their contact with 
many wage-earners of the present, may well be- 

113 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

come guides for the day schools in their education 
of the workers of the future. They may serve as 
guides not only by providing the sort of informa- 
tion which this investigation, for example, has 
shown to be forthcoming from evening school 
pupils, but they may actually experiment in in- 
dustrial courses. Some of the problems involved 
in developing vocational courses in the evening 
schools will be discussed in the following chapter. 



114 



ClIAni-K V 

Rij.ATioN oi- riir: r:vi:NiN(; schools 

TO VOCATIONAL 1 KAININO 

AS cxj)erimcnt slalions in vocational training, 
the evening schools have one advantage 
over the day schools, in that the majority 
of the pupils in evening classes have already a basis 
of experience in wage-earning pursuits. This 
advantage has been potential, however, rather than 
actual, since in most cases the puj)ils have been 
enrolled in classes in which the instruction bore no 
relation to their daily occupations. This has been 
due partly to the inclination of the |)U|)ils, but 
chiefly to the fact that until recently no effort was 
made to ofl'er training which should really su|)ple- 
ment the experience gained in factory and work- 
shop. 

On the other hand, the evening schools can never 
fulfill the functions of day trade schools, if for no 
other reason than for lack of time. The total time 
spent in actual work during a winter in New York 
is ninety evenings, or one hundred and eighty 
hours, in the elementary evening schools and one 
hundred and twenty evenings, or two hundred 
and forty hours, in the high schools. Assuming 
that nine hours is the usual working day, this 

H5 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

means that the whole winter's work of an evening 
class in an elementary school is equivalent to 
twenty days in industry and in a high school to 
twenty-six days and six hours. The disadvantage 
of lack of time and the advantage of utilizing the 
daily experience of the pupils alike indicate the 
possible function of evening classes as means of 
supplementary training in a scheme of vocational 
education. 

Massachusetts, in its plan of state aid for even- 
ing industrial schools, recognizes this condition as 
determining the legitimate scope of these schools.* 
The state gives financial aid only in case the 
evening courses are intended for persons already 
employed by day in the same trades taught in the 
evening, "to the end,'' as the statute says, "that 
instruction in the principles and the practices of 
the arts may go on together." The factory girl, 
domestic servant, or housewife who seeks instruc- 
tion to make her more efficient in her work is 
welcome to join a class made up of others in the 
same occupation, because she already has the 
practice related to the principles to be taught in 
the class. On the other hand, the domestic servant 
who wishes to be trained for factory work, the shop 
girl who wishes to learn cooking, or the saleswoman 
who wants to trim her own hats, is not admitted 

* National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, 
Bulletin No. 13. Proceedings, Fourth Annual Convention, 1910. 
Part III, Part Time and Evening Schools. Address by C. A. Prosser 
on Massachusetts Independent Evening Industrial Schools, pp. 129- 
143. 

116 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

to the classes intended for those actually employed 
in factories or households or millinery shops, for 
the very practical reason that in so short a time 
the aim which the pupil herself has in view could 
not be accomplished, since she is not gaining ex- 
perience in these occupations by day. 

In New York the requirements for entrance to 
evening industrial classes have not been so strict. 
The vocational classes for women have included 
courses in stenography, bookkeeping, costume 
design, millinery, dressmaking, and cooking. In 
some instances a class in stenography, a "speed" 
class, for instance, has been limited to those 
already employed in that occupation. In the so- 
called home-making courses, however — millinery, 
dressmaking, and cooking — the classes have been 
made up chiefly of those who wanted to gain prac- 
tice in one of these arts as a personal accomplish- 
ment. Milliners, dressmakers, or cooks, were few 
in number in these class rooms, since the courses 
were not planned to meet their needs. Sometimes 
a girl would join the class under the impression 
that if she completed the course she could earn her 
living as a dressmaker or milliner. In some in- 
stances what she learned did help her to gain en- 
trance to the trade, but the practice was too brief 
and the plan of work too little adapted to trade 
needs to make her a skilled worker. These 
classes have been dominated by the idea of teach- 
ing the art for "home use," and it is obvious that 
the girl who takes her own materials to class and 

117 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

slowly makes and trims a hat for herself is not 
thereby qualified for the demands of a modern 
millinery establishment. 

The working out of courses limited chiefly to 
girls who have had actual experience in trade, and 
planned to meet their special needs, is illustrated 
by the evening classes organized in the spring of 
191 3 in the Manhattan Trade School for Girls. 
In equipment, in courses offered, in requirements 
for entrance, in choice of teachers, and in general 
plan of work, the experiment is suggestive. 

The Manhattan Trade School is a day school for 
girls, which was started in 1902 by private enter- 
prise and was supported for a number of years by 
private contributions. Later, in the year 19 10, 
it became part of the public school system of New 
York. The courses offered included dressmaking, 
millinery, lamp-shade making and other novelty 
work, and machine operating of various kinds, 
such as plain sewing, embroidery with special 
machines, and straw hat making. These were all 
planned to instruct girls who intended to be wage- 
earners in these trades. 

The equipment of these day classes determined 
the courses to be offered in the evening. The long 
machines, operated by electric power, were ready 
for four classes — elementary machine operating 
for various branches of the clothing trade, ad- 
vanced work in the same occupation, machine 
embroidery, and straw hat making. The dress- 
making rooms, with cutting tables, figures for 

118 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

draping, and so forth, were utilized for two classes, 
one in pattern drafting and cutting, and one in 
waist draping. For lamp-shade making, no special 
tools other than needles are necessary, but the 
long tables and the movable chairs were similar to 
those used in workrooms. The task of relating 
the courses to trade requirements was thus greatly 
simplified by the furnishing of the rooms, in re- 
freshing contrast to the small desks, clamped to 
the floor, which cause such discomfort in many 
evening schools. 

No girl was permitted to enter one of these 
evening classes unless she was definitely and pur- 
posefully seeking training for wage-earning. To 
take the course in advanced machine operating, 
in machine embroidery, or in straw sewing, actual 
trade experience in plain machine operating was 
required. If the applicant had had no such ex- 
perience, she might be enrolled in the elementary 
class in machine operating, and look forward later 
to the possibility of learning straw sewing or 
machine embroidery. Only girls actually employed 
in dressmaking establishments* were admitted to 
the classes in waist draping or in pattern drafting. 
This careful sifting of applicants made possible a 
unity of purpose in the class rooms which added 

* As will be shown later, the exceptions to this rule included three 
workers in shirtwaist making, — an occupation, however, which is a 
branch of wholesale dressmaking, — one neckwear maker who had 
formerly worked in dressmaking, one operator of an embroidery 
machine, one employed in a clothing factory, and one student who 
had taken the day course in the Manhattan Trade School and was 
helping in the school by day. (Table 23, p. 130.) 

I 19 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

much to the efficiency of the instruction. Equally 
careful was the selection of teachers. Definite 
trade experience and the personality needed for 
effective teaching were the chief factors in the 
choice. 

The same careful consideration of the daily 
work of pupils and teachers alike was shown in the 
plan to have each class meet two nights instead of 
four, thus making regularity of attendance more 
possible. Furthermore, supper was served at 
cost in the school so that girls might come direct 
from their work without first taking a long trip 
home for a hurried dinner. Attendance, too, was 
encouraged by so planning the courses as to give 
the instruction in 30 lessons during a short period 
of fifteen weeks. The pupils could thus see the 
end of the course from the beginning and could 
mark their progress in it as the days passed. 

The courses in waist draping and in pattern 
drafting and cutting may be described more fully 
as illustrative of the idea implied in the Massachu- 
setts law already discussed, — the combination of 
practice by day and instruction in principles in the 
evening. In waist draping the aim was to develop 
facility and accuracy in modeling a waist from a 
design shown in a sketch on paper. The course in 
pattern drafting and cutting was planned not to 
afford practice in the art but to teach fundamental 
principles of line and measurement in the making 
of a dress. 

*' We do not expect the girls to draft patterns in 

120 




Pattern Drafting 
Manhattan Evening Trade School 




W'aisi Draping for DkESbMAKHRS 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

the workroom/' said the principal. "Pattern 
drafting for dressmakers is Hke psychology for 
teachers. The teacher may not make direct use 
of her knowledge of psychology, but its principles 
should underlie all her work." 

In the trade itself, instruction in underlying 
principles is not usual; for dressmaking, like many 
other occupations, has felt the influence of machin- 
ery and subdivision of labor. This condition is 
reflected in the records of the 699 dressmakers 
attending the various evening schools, who were 
included in the investigation.* A few worked at 
home or by the day for private customers; others 
were in large or small custom shops; and a third 
group worked in wholesale dressmaking factories. 
The dressmaker who works for her own customers 
is an all-round worker to whom subdivision of 
processes is unknown. At the other extreme is the 
girl who can not accurately be called a dressmaker; 
she is a hand in a large factory. The processes 
named by shop employes included designing, 
draping, waist making and waist finishing, skirt 
making and skirt finishing, skirt draping, sewing 
in linings, hemming, tucking, pressing, examining, 
folding, and such minor tasks as cutting out 
embroidery, pinking, taking out bastings, and dis- 
tributing work. Others were forewomen and one 
owner of a shop was included. 

Two comments may be made on this list. Skilled 

* Study of the Manhattan Trade School evening classes was not, of 
course, included in our original investigation, as these were not organ- 
ized until 1913. 

121 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

processes of high rank, like designing and draping, 
are open to women, and it is by no means unusual 
for women to own and manage shops. Further- 
more, in many specialized tasks skill is required, 
as in tucking, waist and skirt making, and the like. 
On the other hand, with so marked a subdivision 
of processes as is found in large establishments, 
many workers must be too absorbed in repetition 
of simple tasks to gain any knowledge of the 
principles necessary to make them eligible for 
positions ahead. It was to meet just such a need 
that the evening courses in the Manhattan Trade 
School were planned. 

The need thus outlined in general was voiced 
very definitely by the girls who were attending 
these classes. One girl, for instance, had worked 
in the trade five years in New York City, and 
before coming here she had served a two years' 
apprenticeship in Budapest. She was earning 
$9.00 a week in a wholesale dressmaking shop 
but had never had an opportunity to try any 
process except finishing. Her work on the dresses 
began after they had been cut and draped. She 
saw no chance to get ahead unless she could learn 
draping in an evening school. 

The story of this girl is worth telling. She had 
attended another evening school in New York 
four years to learn to speak English. She could 
read it before she left Hungary, and the list of 
languages which she could speak included also 
Hungarian, Italian, Roumanian, German, Spanish, 

122 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

and a little French. In Budapest, she had not only 
served an apprenticeship in dressmaking but had 
learned bookkeeping. She had held a position as 
bookkeeper for three years after she reached the 
United States. Then she thought she could earn 
more as a dressmaker. She had come all alone 
at the age of seventeen and had no relatives here. 
She was boarding and was entirely dependent 
on her own earnings. The grit and determina- 
tion of this girl to advance would be inspiring were 
not one disheartened by the realization of how 
little use the industrial world had made of her 
talents. 

Two other ambitious girls in the waist draping 
class were waist finishers in a retail shop. They 
were attending regularly, so that at the first op- 
portunity in the shop they might become assistant 
drapers and later, drapers. Meanwhile, they were 
hoping that an evening class in designing would 
be started in order that they might take another 
step forward. 

In the next room, learning pattern drafting, was 
a girl who had already gone part way up the ladder 
these younger workers were hoping to scale. She 
was a draper in a retail shop, earning $12 a week. 
Her advice was to learn pattern drafting first as a 
foundation for designing. She was taking the 
course with just that purpose in view; namely, 
to become a designer. Her training in the trade 
had been secured under difficulties. As a child, 
she had never learned to sew, and in her first job 

123 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

in a dressmaking establishment she was paid 50 
cents a week. It took three years to arrive at a 
wage of $5.00. At the time when she was inter- 
viewed she was boarding and, in spite of her wage 
of $12, found the seasonal problem a difficult one. 
She wished that the evening schools would offer 
courses to enable every girl in a season trade to be 
trained in a supplementary occupation for use in 
dull season. 

Another girl in the same class told of an interest- 
ing position she might have secured the week before 
at $18 a week if she had had more of just the train- 
ing she was receiving in pattern drafting. The 
work was offered by a dressmaking firm whose 
customers order their gowns by correspondence 
and never appear at the shop for a fitting. A 
worker was needed who would be expert in making 
dresses from measurements sent by mail. This 
girl was not yet expert enough, but hoped to be- 
come so. Meanwhile, the course helped her in her 
present position, where she altered gowns according 
to measurements given in writing. 

A bright, vivacious young Italian girl of nine- 
teen, in the pattern drafting and cutting class, told 
us quite simply and enthusiastically about her 
trade career and her plans for the future. She had 
learned machine operating in the day course of the 
Manhattan Trade School and had left two years 
and two months before to become a machine 
operator at $6.00 a week in a wholesale dress- 
making establishment. She did so well that in a 

124 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

year she became a maker of model dresses. She 
was earning $15, making chiffon dresses as samples 
for the other workers to copy. She had learned 
in the shop to drape the dresses she made, so she 
did not need the course in waist draping, but she 
did need that in pattern drafting and cutting. 
She wanted to know more about line and measure- 
ment, for she intended to fit herself to be a designer. 
Meanwhile, in addition to her regular work, she 
made dresses at home for private customers. 

In the same class was a colored girl who went out 
by the day as a dressmaker for private customers. 
She, too, had been trained in the day course of the 
Manhattan Trade School, afterward working in a 
shop as an assistant waist finisher. If she was to be 
really efficient as a dressmaker dealing directly 
with her own customers, she felt that she must 
understand how to draft patterns and cut, as much 
for the knowledge these would give her of the whole 
art of dressmaking as for the actual use of the 
processes in her daily work. 

The following outline of the lessons in the class 
in waist draping shows that the emphasis was not 
on practice which the girls already have in full 
measure in the shops, but on fundamental prin- 
ciples which they have difficulty in acquiring in a 
workroom. 



125 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 
MANHATTAN EVENING TRADE SCHOOL 

Course in Waist Draping* 
30 Lessons 

1. Study of fashion plates and discus- 

sion of lines in waists. Demon- 
stration and criticism of several 
models. 

2. Preparation of lining, padding of 

lining on the figure. 
3-4. Practice draping with tissue paper, 

several different models. 
5-6. Practice draping (one model) with 
cambric or cheesecloth in two 
different colors. 
7-8. Fitting net on yoke and collar. 
9-19. Draping waist in cloth. 
20-30. Draping waist in silk with chiffon 
or lace. 

To those unfamiliar with the mysteries of dress- 
making, the significance of this outline may be 
obscure. Suffice it to say that the girl who under- 
stands how to drape the whole waist and make it 
like the model will know better how to make or 
finish a sleeve, or how to baste a lining. This fact 
will be quite convincing to any woman who with 
the help only of an inexperienced seamstress has 

* Each girl is required to work with a figure and the eflfort is made 
to get all preparatory work (such as making linings, sewing, and 
getting materials ready to drape) done outside of the class period, so 
that the class period may be devoted to the artistic and creative side. 

126 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

Struggled to reproduce an alluring model pictured 
in a fashion magazine. Far more than the careful 
use of the needle is required to make a gown, even 
if the picture is before one's eyes. 

It is no new thing to have a dressmaking class in 
an evening school in New York, but this is the first 
time that one has been planned to meet definitely 
and exclusively the needs of girls already in the 
trade. Hitherto, as has been stated, the aim has 
been to teach women to make clothes for them- 
selves or their families. Necessarily the courses 
have been planned to give brief practice in fashion- 
ing various kinds of garments, — beginning with 
corset covers and shirtwaists, and ending perhaps 
with a lined dress of chiffon. Obviously there is 
neither time nor adequate experience for study of 
line, measurement, or design. These courses 
given in the night schools, however, are so often 
spoken of as industrial or vocational that they 
are likely to be an obstacle in the development 
of real industrial education, unless the difference 
between them and the instruction needed by girls 
in the trade be clearly understood. 

Jennie, for instance, was an errand girl in a 
large wholesale dressmaking establishment. She 
was ''ambitious to learn all about the dressmaking 
trade," as she expressed it. She began to go from 
shop to shop, gaining a little different experience 
in each position. "They say that a rolling stone 
gathers no moss, but I would never advance if I 
didn't change my position." She was eager to 

127 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

know where she could find a class in designing, as 
that was her goal in her trade. This was a year 
before the Manhattan Trade School evening classes 
had been organized. Jennie attended an evening 
school, but she had entered a class in business 
English and bookkeeping rather than the class in 
dressmaking. ''What can one teacher and two 
old machines do in a class of 30 girls?" was her very 
sagacious comment. 

Lucy, a young Italian girl, objected also to the 
lack of enough machines. She joined a dressmak- 
ing class and left it in less than a month. *'I 
didn't like it," she said. " I knew more than the 
teacher and I never could get at the machine. I 
had to sew everything by hand. I could get more 
done at home." For much the same reason Irene, 
a stock girl in a department store, left evening 
school. "She could run up two of those corset 
covers on the machine at home while she was mak- 
ing one at school by hand," said her mother. 

If these criticisms are well founded, it is pecul- 
iarly unfortunate that classes intended to train 
girls in the arts of home making, including sewing, 
should not demonstrate the principle of accomplish- 
ing tasks efficiently by using always the proper 
tools. 

At their best, however, the class in home arts 
and the class in trade practice are so unlike as to 
make it necessary to separate them, admitting to 
the trade class only the girls who are wage-earners 
or intend to be, and letting it be clearly understood 

128 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

that the home class offers no experience of real 
value in a workshop. For in the class intended to 
train girls to sew well at home the individual foot- 
treadle machines should be used; while for trade 
work, a girl must know how to run a power 
machine. 

In order to get more light on this experiment in 
the Manhattan Trade School, we made a special 
study of the application schedules filled out by the 
girls who entered the classes. The daily occupa- 
tions of the 195 girls enrolled in 191 3 are shown in 
Table 23. 

The classes in elementary machine operating 
and in lamp-shade work, as already explained, 
were the only ones to which girls not experienced 
in an allied process were admitted. Two milliners 
took the course in lamp-shade making, probably 
to enable them to find work when the millinery 
trade was slack. The similarity between mak- 
ing a hat and making a lamp shade is apparent 
when one reflects that both have some kind of a 
frame as a foundation and similar materials are 
used; both need hand sewing with various fancy 
stitches similar in kind, such as slip-stitching, fac- 
ing, shirring, and making frills; and both demand 
accurate perception of line and form. In the day 
classes in the Manhattan Trade School every 
milliner is now required to learn lamp-shade 
making as a possible solution of the seasonal 
problem later to be encountered in the millinery 
trade. 

129 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



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131 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

In the class in advanced machine operating every 
girl was employed by day in some industry in 
which the power machine is used, including the 
making of curtains, furs, millinery, straw hats, 
neckwear, underwear, shirtwaists, corsets, machine 
embroidery, women's clothing, and bathing suits. 
The daily work of six of these girls was machine 
operating; that of ii, hand sewing; in addition 
there were four examiners and six stock girls. The 
machine operators wanted more skill, and the hand 
workers, including examiners and stock girls, 
wanted a chance, usually denied them in the work- 
rooms where **no learners are employed," to prac- 
tice on machines so that they could be transferred 
to machine processes and earn higher wages. With 
very few exceptions, the girls in waist draping 
and pattern drafting classes were employed in the 
dressmaking trade. 

Not only young workers were attracted to these 
classes. Table 24, which gives ages, indicates 
that many of them had probably had several 
years' experience as wage-earners. Their decision 
to attend evening school to acquire more training 
was therefore the more significant of the need 
which they felt, and of the failure of the industries 
themselves to provide adequate training. 

Only four were under sixteen and two of these 
passed the sixteenth birthday while taking the 
course. More than a third, 73, were twenty-one or 
over. But it may be inferred by some that the 
age alone is no proof of need of training on the part 

132 




Machine Operating 
Manhattan Evening Trade School 




Teacher iNbiRucTiNG in Straw Sewing 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

of wage-earners in general, since these girls who 
attended the Manhattan Evening Trade School 
may have been failures in their occupations. On 
this point, the evidence adduced from their wages 
is important. The data appear in Table 25. 

The census of 1905 told us that the average 
weekly earnings of women in all manufacturing 

TABLE 24.— AGES OF WOMEN ATTENDING EVENING 

CLASSES IN THE MANHATTAN TRADE SCHOOL, 

NEW YORK CITY, 1913 



Age 


Women of the 
ages specified 


Less than i6 years . 
1 6 years and less than i8 years 
18 years and less than 21 years 
21 years and less than 25 years 
25 years and less than 35 years 
35 years and less than 45 years 
45 years or more 










4 

57 
57 
38 

23 
1 1 

I 


Total 


191^ 



^Of 195 women, four did not supply information. 



pursuits grouped together in New York State was 
$6.54.* Gauged by that fact, the wages of these 
girls attending the Manhattan Trade School in the 
evening were well above the average. For the 
whole group, the average was $8.42, and for those 
of twenty-one years or older, $9.88. A further 
classification in wage groups showed that 77, or 44 
per cent, were earning less than $8.00, and 97, or 

* United States Census, Bulletin 93, Earnings of Wage-Earners, 
Manufactures, p. I $0. 1905. 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

56 per cent, were earning $8.00 or more, with 19, or 
1 1 per cent, earning between $12 and $15, and four, 
or 2.3 per cent, earning $15 or over. That at the 
very beginning of this experiment girls who, as 
wages go, are among the more highly paid, should 
be taking advantage of these new night classes, 



TABLE 25.— AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES, BY AGES, OF 

WOMEN ATTENDING EVENING CLASSES IN THE 

MANHATTAN TRADE SCHOOL, NEW YORK CITY, 

1913 



Age 


Women 

reporting 

wages 


Average 

weekly 

wage 


Less than i6 years 

16 years and less than i8 years . 
18 years and less than 21 years . 
21 years and less than 25 years . 

25 years or more 

Not stated 


4 

56 

5' 

35 

27 

I 


$4.25 
6.56 

8.93 
10. 13 

9-57 
12.50 


Total 


174* 


$8.42 


18 years or more 

21 years or more 


113 
62 


$9.45 
9.88 



*Of the 195 women, 14 did not report wages and seven had no 
occupation or stated none. 

speaks well for the general efficiency of the plan 
of work. On the other hand, it shows to what an 
extent all-round training is neglected in the work- 
rooms, since girls who evidently have an assured 
foothold in their occupations have not been able 
to secure in the shops the training for which they 
feel the need. 

Less than 200 girls were enrolled in these 

134 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

classes, and the scope of the courses was strictly 
limited. It is too early to judge of the results 
which may show themselves in the future trade 
careers of these girls. The effect of the methods, 
however, was visible in the atmosphere of the 
class rooms; in the quickened interest of the 
pupils in every process of their occupations, an 
interest often deadened in workrooms by monot- 
ony and by discouraging and fatiguing conditions. 
The successful operation of these classes seems to 
indicate the possible function of the evening schools 
in giving supplementary training to girls in many 
different occupations. But the experiment should 
not be limited to classes in dressmaking and the 
allied trades. At the risk of boring a patient 
reader, it seems well to drive home a realization of 
the great complexity of the industrial problem 
which we are considering by reciting in detail some 
of the actual occupations of girls in New York. 
For example, what shall be done for the flower and 
feather makers; for the makers of men's clothing, 
of boys' suits and overcoats, of vests, shirts, men's 
neckwear, collars and cuffs, suspenders, and caps; 
for the makers of women's tailored garments, of 
shirtwaists, petticoats and underwear; neckwear, 
corsets, bathing suits, kimonos, aprons, wrappers, 
dressing sacks; and of children's dresses, under- 
wear and caps; for the workers who dip chocolate, 
wrap, pack, and label candies, stamp and pack 
chewing gum, fill boxes with licorice; or pack, label, 
and seal all kinds of bakery products, canned 

»35 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

vegetables, preserved fruits, noodles, corn beef, 
olives, butter and eggs, yeast cakes, salad oil, tea, 
sugar, spices and coffee, and make and pack cigars 
and cigarettes; for the girls who operate, perforate, 
line, finish, cover, make buttonholes, put on 
beading, and perform many other processes of shoe 
manufacture; for the workers in the glove factories 
who operate machines, trim, steam, put on clasps, 
reel silk, spin, bind, and, of course, examine and 
pack; for the makers of leather belts, purses, dress 
shields, rain coats, trusses, garters and other goods 
of rubber; for the workers on fur and makers of 
mattresses; for the numerous employes in the re- 
cently prosperous hair goods industry ; for the mak- 
ers of articles of bone and pearl and horn, of 
feather dusters and cushions, fans, mirrors, jewelry 
cases and badges; for milliners and makers of em- 
broidered articles of many kinds and materials; 
for makers of handkerchiefs, sheets, pillow cases, 
tablecloths, flags, quilts, burial robes, ribbon 
novelties, umbrella covers and strips of button- 
holes purchasable for home dressmaking; for 
girls employed in bookbinding, the manufacture 
of stationery, lithographing, paper box making, 
printing, making paper bags and sample cards; 
for workers in a diverse list of processes needed 
in the manufacture of cotton goods, braids, and 
passementerie, knit goods, including sweaters, 
stockings and underwear, lace and veils, silk goods, 
carpets, woolen goods, upholstery goods, scarfs 
and shawls, window shades, bags, mats, and other 

136 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

articles of flax, hemp or jute; for the wage-earning 
girls who in seeking their livelihood seem to have 
departed far from women's sphere in electing to 
work on products of stone, clay, glass, and metal, 
from the packing of fishing tackle to the lacquering 
of toys and the stamping of glass and china; the 
testing of electric lights and graphophones, lantern 
making, wood and cork manufacture, including 
life preservers, cigar boxes, and toothpicks; the 
preparation of drugs and chemicals, paints and 
dyes, soap, perfumery, and candles; work on prod- 
ucts of gold, silver, precious stones, and jewelry; 
the manufacture of lamp shades of copper or glass; 
the making of dental supplies; and finally for girls 
engaged in all the processes of cleaning, dyeing, 
and general laundry work? 

The interrogation mark at the end of this list is 
to be taken in its fullest meaning. The questions 
involved in industrial education for women will 
not be answered until we take account of all the 
diverse trades in which women are employed. 
Even this lengthy enumeration represents merely a 
picked list for purposes of illustration. It is not 
complete even for manufacturing and mechanical 
pursuits, and it excludes entirely any mention of 
the many distinct occupations counted under the 
census headings: domestic and personal service, 
trade and transportation, agricultural pursuits, 
and professional work — stenographers and book- 
keepers, clerical workers, saleswomen, buyers and 
shoppers, telephone girls and telegraph operators, 

»37 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

manicures, hairdressers, waitresses in restau- 
rants, nurse maids, besides statisticians, librarians, 
dietitians, interpreters, translators, and teachers. 
It must be understood that all these illustrations 
are drawn from the card records of women actually 
attending public evening schools; that, incomplete 
as the actual list of occupations is, we have counted 
on these cards 289 subdivisions of the main occu- 
pational groups, and that still further subdivi- 
sion would be necessary to count the actual number 
of distinct tasks, each of which represents the 
day's work of a wage-earning woman. 

The evening classes in dressmaking in the Man- 
hattan Trade School were made possible because 
the school had had experience in training girls for 
this trade, and its general conditions and processes 
are known. No one person and no one group of 
persons, however, has sufficient knowledge as yet 
to work out parallel courses in any considerable 
number of other industries. Moreover, what we 
know of other trades shows us that the problems 
in them are distinctly different from those in 
dressmaking. Take, for example, bookbinding. 
Machines dominate the industry. The line of 
demarcation between men's work and women's 
work is sharply drawn. Women are not called upon 
to plan or to design ; their tasks are mechanical and 
highly specialized. Speed, good team work, and 
facility in a mechanical process are the chief re- 
quirements. Employers and workers alike say 
that they can see no scope for supplementary school- 

138 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

ing with a definite vocational bearing for women in 
this industry.* This does not mean that all 
thought of industrial education for women in this 
trade must be abandoned. 1 1 does mean, however, 
that much study and careful experiment will be 
necessary to work out any feasible plan. 

After all, the whole subject of industrial educa- 
tion, viewed in the light of these facts about 
wage-earning girls in evening schools, divides 
itself naturally into distinct problems, according 
to the general types of work in which women 
are engaged. Skill is not a simple, invariable 
quality. In some positions and some occupations 
the need is for imagination, organizing capacity, 
and general intelligence, in addition to hand skill; 
as, for instance, in the work of a designer or the 
duties of a forewoman. In others, hand skill is 
pre-eminently required, as in straw sewing, ma- 
chine embroidery, and the making of lace; and skill 
here means accuracy and delicacy of touch. In 
other processes, like sewing on buttons, folding 
pamphlets, packing candy or operating an envelope 
machine, it means swiftness of movement. In 
some work, like the trimming of an expensive hat 
in a wholesale millinery establishment, accuracy 
and delicacy of touch, speed, and imagination all 
are needed. 

Just what part the evening schools or the day 

* For a full discussion of this subject based on an intensive study 
of women's work in this trade, see Van Kleeck, Mary: Women in the 
Bookbinding Trade. Russell Sage Foundation Publication. New 
York, Survey Associates, 1913. 

139 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

schools can play in developing the efficiency re- 
quired in these varied types of work is, indeed, 
problematical, but even more puzzling is the 
problem of minimizing the effect upon the 
individual of occupations which require no real 
efficiency, — monotonous tasks and odd jobs like 
putting nuts on cakes in a bakery or pasting 
chenille dots on veils. Getting rid entirely of such 
work as separate jobs, either by inventing machines 
or by absorbing them into other jobs so that no 
one will have them to do continuously, would 
seem to be a most obvious and imperative solu- 
tion. This, however, is part of the business of 
remaking and reforming industry. 

Meanwhile the schools must meet conditions as 
they are. We need not wait to decide the educa- 
tional theories of the future, since the workers of 
the present are voicing their needs more or less 
explicitly by the very fact of their attendance in 
evening classes. Diversity of experiment is de- 
sirable. The first step is to know accurately what 
occupations are represented in each evening school, 
and the second, to bring together at night pupils 
engaged in similar occupations by day, question 
them regarding their work, learn the facts about 
their past schooling and its deficiencies, and thus 
study their present educational needs.* When 
such inquiry reveals a demand and a need for 
supplementary training in practice or principles 

* The card records now in use in New York evening schools afford 
a basis for such a study. 

140 



EVENING SCHOOLS AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING 

involved in the day's work, the important next 
steps, if we may judge by such experiments as 
those described in the Manhattan Evening Trade 
School, are to define the aim, limit registration to 
those already employed in the occupation to be 
taught, provide adequate equipment, and secure a 
teacher who can give expert instruction. The last 
of these is the most difficult to provide, and the 
most important. Indeed, it is doubtful whether 
anything else is needed to solve the problem of 
industrial training except pupils with singleness 
of aim and similarity of experience, and a teacher 
with knowledge of their occupations, with powers 
of observation, and the capacity to devise new 
methods for meeting new conditions. 



141 



CHAPTER VI 

IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE IN EVENING 

CLASSES 

THE biggest handicap of the evening schools 
is that their work is done in the evening. 
Teachers and pupils ahke have given their 
best energies to the day's work. ** Tired at night 
school?" said a fourteen-year-oki pupil. ''Why, 
yes, sometimes I go to sleep. I don't like the work 
I'm doing now (cutting the web of garters), holding 
the scissors all day; the scissors hurt my hand so, 
and it's so tiresome cutting all the time. But it 
was worse when I was at children's caps, on my feet 
all day. I'm weak on my feet. But I can't stop 
night school because I'm tired, if 1 want to get my 
education. 1 want to go to evening high and be a 
stenographer." In spite of such ambition, however, 
many pupils must leave when the season of over- 
time in the shops compels them to work late. 
Others lose interest because, perhaps, the tired 
teacher has not inspired them with zest for learn- 
ing. Said Flora, a young Russian milliner, "Night 
school is different from day school — the teacher is 
not so serious. Sometimes the girls are noisy and 
the teacher doesn't teach anything all evening. 
But other times you learn a little, so it's better 

142 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

than nothing." For such reasons as these and for 
many others due to the inevitable difficulties of 
night study, irregular attendance continues to be a 
baffling problem. 

It is a problem, too, with a long history. In 
1847, "3,224 scholars" registered in the six 
schools open in that year for the first time, and the 
average attendance was only 1,224. ^" '^5^ this 
discrepancy between registration and average 
attendance so troubled the school authorities that 
they employed persons to visit the absentees and 
ascertain the cause of absence. But this plan 
accomplished little good in increasing the regular- 
ity of attendance, and it was abandoned. In 
1865, the school authorities, aroused by the fact 
that the numbers always declined after the first 
few weeks, carefully analyzed the defects in the 
schools. First among them they found a lack of 
stringent regulations regarding admission; too 
many young children were registered whose pres- 
ence kept young men and women away. Then, 
too, contrary to the original plan, pupils were some- 
times admitted who were attending day school. 
A better method of classification on the basis of 
age and ability was needed, and a larger number of 
efficient teachers. 

In 1866, to cover some of these defects, registra- 
tion began a week in advance of the opening of 
classes; no boys under fourteen and no girls under 
twelve were admitted; it was required that a 
responsible person accompany or vouch for all 

»43 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

applicants at the time of admission; men teachers 
were selected for boys' classes, or women who had 
had at least two years' experience in a boys' grammar 
school. Finally, the board of education established 
one new school of higher grade to teach young 
men mechanical and architectural drawing, higher 
mathematics, bookkeeping, commercial rules, and 
other general and vocational subjects. 

Improvements were the result, and it was found 
also that the tendency to diminish hours of labor 
in industry was giving time and opportunity for 
mental improvement "to thousands hitherto cut 
off from such advantages." Nevertheless, several 
years later, in 1887, the total register was 20,645 
and the average attendance, 6,976. In that year 
the city superintendent recommended an ex- 
haustive investigation of evening schools. He 
stated that some matters, notably irregularity of 
attendance, seemed to be beyond the control of 
the schools; that the organization of junior and 
senior classes, and the various other new methods 
recommended, had had no effect on attendance. 
Several years later, in 1902, the school sessions 
were reduced from five to four per week, but this 
change also failed to solve the problem of irregular 
attendance. 

In 1910-11, the year of our investigation, the 
total number of men and women registered in all 
the evening schools of the city was 1 1 1,996, while 
the average attendance was only 41,207. Of the 
number registered in elementary schools, 83,145, 

144 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

slightly more than 2,000 attended every one of the 
90 possible evenings of the session; while nearly 
37,000 were present less than 60 evenings, and 
1 3,000 others stayed a week or less.* In the high 
schools the record was even worse, 19,028 of the 
28,85 ^ registered attending less than 60 evenings, 
and only 388 answering the roll call regularly 
through the 120 evenings of the season. 

In the reports for 1911-12 and 1912-13,! the 
attendance figures are analyzed with special care. 
Consider, for example, the evening elementary 
schools. Nearly 8,000 who applied for admis- 
sion and were assigned to classes never appeared 
again, a fact representing a serious waste of time 
and money for clerical work. The total enroll- 
ment was 101,557, including all who applied for 
admission. The total registration, counting only 
those who actually appeared in a class room at 
least one night, was 93,840.! The average attend- 
ance, which is computed by adding together the 
attendance of every evening and then dividing by 
the total number of evenings in the school year, 
was only 34, 1 1 7.§ When this figure is compared 
with the total of more than 100,000 who were 
enrolled, the extent of the problem and the 

* Superintendent of Schools, New York City. Thirteenth Annual 
Report, 1910-11. Report on Evening Schools for the Year Ending 
July 31, 191 1, pp. 9-13. 

t Superintendent of Schools, New York City. Fifteenth Annual 
Report, 1912-13. Report on Evening Schools for the Year Ending 
July 31, 1913, pp. 8-25. 

X Ibid., p. 16. 
§ Ibid., p. 20. 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

need for careful analysis of the figures become 
evident. 

For the purpose of comparison between groups, a 
percentage of attendance is computed, which is 
the ratio of average attendance, already defined, 
to average register; that is, the total secured by 
adding together the number of names on the roll 
books each evening and dividing by the number of 
evenings. Thus the average register in 19 12- 13 
was 49,438 as compared with the total of 93,840 
who appeared at least one evening. The complicat- 
ing factor here is that pupils enter any month of 
the school season, and thus the personnel of the 
class rooms may undergo more violent changes 
than an actual count of the number on the books 
night after night would indicate. The millinery 
teacher's roll call of 20 pupils in January — the 
''register" of her class — may contain an entirely 
different set of names from her list of November. 
The total registration of the class may be 75, count- 
ing all the aspiring milliners who appeared before 
her during the term, while her average register 
may be 40, this being the average length of her 
roll call with Caroline and Maria coming in Janu- 
ary to take the place of Jennie and Marguerite, 
who dropped out in November; the average attend- 
ance may be 24, counting together the number 
who were present each evening and dividing by the 
total number of evenings. The per cent of at- 
tendance as it is reckoned in the New York even- 
ing schools would then be the ratio of 24 to 40, 

146 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

or 60 per cent. Thus estimated for all the schools 
in 1 9 12-13, with an average register of 49,438 and 
an average attendance of 34,117, the per cent 
was 69. 

Of the total attendance that year, about 45 per 
cent were women and girls. The most regular 
attendance was credited to men over twenty-one 
years of age, 72 per cent; with girls under twenty- 
one a close second, 71 per cent; while boys under 
twenty-one were third, 68 per cent; and women 
fourth, 67 per cent. These differences obviously 
are not very great. It should be explained that the 
poorest attendance was that of the ''compulsory 
boys"; namely, those under sixteen who had left 
day school before graduating and were required by 
law to attend evening school. Their attendance 
record was 60 per cent. They were counted sepa- 
rately from the other boys under twenty-one, who 
won third place in the percentage of attendance. 

A comparison of attendance figures according to 
subjects studied* showed the best record for classes 
in English for foreigners, 72 per cent, as compared 
with 67 per cent in common branches, and 65 
per cent in special subjects. The best attendance 
of all was in the summer classes in English for 
foreigners, 77 per cent.f 

* Ibid., p. 22. 

t The first summer evening classes for foreigners in New York were 
organized on May 2, 1910, in one school building. In 191 1, two such 
schools were in session, and in 1912, four, but in 1913, only three were 
open because of a shortage in the allowance for evening school in- 
struction. 

H7 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

The attendance ratio also varied according to 
the specific subject studied, as well as in the main 
branches of work offered.* Of the subjects in 
which a hundred or more were registered, the best 
showing was for embroidery, 69 per cent, and 
millinery, 69 per cent; and the lowest was electric 
wiring, 61 per cent. All these figures which have 
been quoted apply only to evening elementary 
schools; the differences in high schools are not 
marked enough to demand discussion. 

Briefly stated, then, the terms of the problem are 
these: An evening school enrolls 1,000 prospec- 
tive students, the majority of whom apply for ad- 
mission at the beginning of the school term, while 
others come in scattered groups at various times 
through the season. Of these 1,000, 80 never 
appear in a class room; 920 are marked present in 
the roll books at least one night. From time to 
time names are removed from the roll books when 
night after night they are marked absent. Others 
are added as they apply. The average length of 
the roll in all the classes of the school is about 494, 
and the average attendance only 341 of the pos- 
sible 1,000 who have come in contact with the 
school, more or less casually, in the course of the 
term. This situation is not peculiar to New York. 
Furthermore, it has persisted through many 
changes in school administration. 

In the report of the evening schools for 191 3 
attention is wisely turned from a discussion of 

* Ibid., p. 26. 
148 




A Button Sewer by Day 
Learning machine operating at night 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

remedies to a realization of the more fundamental 
implications of this baflPling and persistent problem. 
"Principals might well continue to consider the 
problem of attendance in their conferences/' 
writes Dr. Shiels,* ''not in terms of numbers nor 
of tenure, but by the indirect and more efficient 
method of a discussion of the best methods of 
teaching. It is a great mistake to seek the attend- 
ance of pupils on any basis or by any method except 
the simple and effective one of making school ex- 
perience so interesting and so valuable that the 
pupil must realize its worth to him." 

The girls included in our investigation were a 
part of the larger group whose attendance in 1910- 
1 1 has been discussed. On the back of each of the 
investigation cards filled out in the autumn, space 
was provided for the number of nights the girl was 
present each month of the school year. As has 
already been stated, we revisited as late as possible 
in the spring a majority of the Manhattan and 
Bronx schools and copied the attendance record of 
each girl from the teachers' roll books. 

Satisfactory data were secured from allf but 
four of the evening elementary schools included 
in the investigation in Manhattan, and the records 
obtained of 2,935 gi^^s out of a total of 3,438 who 

* Superintendent of Schools, Fifteenth Annual Report, p. i8. 

t The elementary schools from which attendance records were 
secured were, in Manhattan, — Nos. 4, 13, 14, 17, 19, 23, 29, 38, 45, 
59. 67, 71, 72, 89, 92, 93, and 96. Data had been obtained also from 
schools Nos. 42 and 177, but as so many of the pupils entered late in 
the term because of Jewish holidays in October, they were omitted 
on account of this lack of uniformity with results from other schools. 

149 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

had filled out cards in those schools in the preced- 
ing autumn. As the work of transferring these 
records had to be done before the close of the school 
term, the last of March, the facts about attendance 
were secured during March from 1 3 of the schools, 
thus carrying the records through February, a 
period of five months. This was not the full 
term, however, in those schools. In the remaining 
four schools the total attendance for the school 
year, six months, that is, through March, was 
available through the co-operation of the principals 
in supplying us with complete lists filled out for 
us in their offices. 

The high schools included in this phase of the 
study were Morris and Harlem,* two of the four 
investigated in Manhattan and the Bronx, and 
records were secured of 1,233 C)f the 1,336 pupils 
previously investigated in those schools. The full 
evening high school term, September through 
April, was covered. 

That we might have a background of information 
for the attendance facts about our limited group, 
we secured for the classes in 1 5 elementary schoolsf 
the total actual attendance on the first school 
night of each month, here shown in Table 26. 

On the first night in December the actual number 
present was higher than on the first night in any 

* Facts about attendance in East Side evening high school were 
secured but not tabulated with those of the other high schools because 
so many of the pupils had not entered until November, after the Jew- 
ish holidays of October. 

t Nos. 4, 13, 14, 17, 19, 23. 38, 45, 59, 67, 71, 72, 92, 93, and 96. 

150 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

TABLE 26.— WOMEN ON REGISTER IN THE YEAR, AND 

ATTENDANCE ON FIRST SCHOOL NIGHT OF EACH 

MONTH, IN 15 PUBLIC ELEMENTARY EVENING 

SCHOOLS 



Total number of women on register in year 



14,722 





WOMEN ATTENDING ON THE FIRST SCHOOL 






NIGHT IN EACH MONTH 


First school 






As a percentage 


night in month 






of the maximum 






As a percentage 


number of 




Number 


of all women on 


women attend- 






register in year 


ing on the first 

school night in 

any month 


October 3, 19 10 


3.604 


24.5 


46.4 


November i, 1910 


7.491 


50.9 


96.5 


December 1, 1910 


7.763 


52.7 


100. 


January 3, 191 1 


6,217 


42.2 


80.1 


February i, 191 1 


6,719 


46.0 


86.6 


March i, 1911 


5.607 


38.0 


72.2 



All women on register| 
in year 



Per cent 
of women 

attending 
first school 

night in 



November ^^^^2^50.9 
Dace.be, PW///y/////////'//i 52.7 

January 



14,722 



42.2 
February W/MmmM ^O 

Diagram IL — Women on Register in Year and Percentage 
Attending First School Night of Each Month, in 15 Public 
Elementary Schools 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

Other month of the winter. Taking the number in 
attendance on the first night in December as the 
standard, namely, as loo per cent, the attendance 
on the first school night in October was only 46 
per cent; in March, 72 per cent. Diagram 11 por- 
trays these same facts graphically. The bad show- 
ing in October is due mainly to the fact that so 
many important Jewish holidays fall just at the 
opening of the evening school sessions. The Jews 
are so numerous in the schools that undoubtedly 
their holidays that month do affect the attend- 
ance averages of the whole evening school system. 
The total registration* in these 1 5eveningelemen- 

* In the evening high schools, Harlem, Morris, and East Side, we 
secured the average attendance the first hour each night for two-week 
periods. In the table which follows, the average for each period is 
shown as a percentage of the average attendance, for the two weeks 
ending September 29, 1910: 



Period of two weeks ending 


Average attendance, 

as a percentage 

of average attendance 

during period ending 

September 29 


September 29 

October 13 

27 

November lo 

23 

December 8 

15 

January 12 

26 

February 9 

23 

March 9 

23 

April 6 

27 

May 16 


100 

88 

94 
90 

94 
84 

84 
77 
78 
79 
81 
80 
79 
63 
68 

7» 



152 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

tary schools for the year was 14,722, but the largest 
number present the first school night of any month 
was only 7,763, or 53 per cent of the total register. 
In October it was only 25 per cent with an increase 
in November to 51 per cent, and, after reaching 
the December maximum, a fall to 42 per cent in 
January, a slight increase to 46 per cent in Febru- 
ary, and another fall to 38 per cent in March. 

These, like the figures quoted from the annual 
reports of the schools, are composite statistics. To 
follow the fortunes of the group whom we investi- 
gated is to secure a different kind of information, 
concerning as it does a group of which the personnel 
did not change in the course of the year. Our 
first interest was to discover the proportion who 
were still attending evening school when we re- 
turned in the spring. The facts are shown in 
Table 27, on p. 1 54. 

Of 1,127 evening high school girls investigated 
who had entered the classes in September, only 
477, or 43 per cent, were still attending in May, 
while 36 per cent had left before the first of Janu- 
ary. In the four elementary schools for which 
information was secured for the full term, 64 per 
cent stayed through the school year. Stated for 
the different occupational groups,* the proportion 
in the manufacturing group continuing until the 
end of the term was 67 per cent, as compared with 
63 per cent among those who had no occupation, 

* For attendance by main groups of occupations and ages, see 
Appendix 1, Tables L, M, and N, pp. 209-21 1. 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



TABLE 27.— MONTHS IN WHICH WOMEN ATTENDING 
PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS DROPPED OUT » 





WOMEN DROPPING OUT OF ^ 




High; 


schools 


Elementary schools in which 
attendance records were 


Month 






secured for 






Num- 
ber 


Per 

cent 






Six months 


Five months 




Num- 


Per 


Num- 


Per 








ber 


cent 


ber 


cent 


September 


46 


4 


d 


d 


d 


d 


October . 


172 


'5 


88 


9 


1 12 


6 


November 


125 


1 1 


102 


10 


254 


13 


December 


67 


6 


61 


6 


221 


II 


January . 


83 


7 


77 


8 


176 


9 


February 


68 


6 


32 


3 


. .f 


. .f 


March 


54 


5 


e 


e 


e 


e 


April 


35 


3 


..d 


d 


d 


d 


Women remain- 














ing at time at- 














tendance rec- 














ords were se- 














cured ^. 


477 


43 


613 


64 


1,230 


61 


Total . 


1. 127 


100 


973 


1 
100 1 1,993 


100 



^ Data appear in detail in Appendix I, Tables L, M, and N, pp. 
209-2 1 1 . 

** Data as to month of dropping out were secured for 1,127 of the 
4,862 women attending evening high schools, and for 2,966 of the 
8,279 women attending evening elementary schools. 

^ Records were secured for the full term for the high schools after 
they closed in May, and for the full term of four of the elementary 
schools after they closed in March. Records for 13 elementary 
schools were secured in March, before the schools closed. 

^ Schools not in session. 

e Sessions in elementary schools ended in March. As pupils were 
considered as having dropped out in a given month only when they 
failed to appear any night in the following month, the numbers 
dropping out in a given month are stated only when attendance 
figures were secured for the following month. 

f Attendance figures were secured only through February, not 
March. 

154 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

and 56 per cent in trade and transportation. In the 
other occupations, the numbers were too few to jus- 
tify percentages. Grouped by ages, the best show- 
ing in these four elementary schools was made by 
those between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, 
of whom 145 of a total of 216, or 67 per cent, con- 
tinued their course to the end, as compared with 90, 
or 65 per cent, of the 1 39 who were twenty-one or 
over; 1 58, or 61 per cent, of the 259 under sixteen; 
and 207, or 60 per cent, of the 343 between sixteen 
and eighteen. 

In the 13 schools for which the data covered 
five months instead of six, the proportion still en- 
rolled at the end of February was 61 per cent, or 
1,230 out of 1,993, varying according to occupa- 
tional groups from 63 per cent, or 564 out of 890, 
in manufacturing, and 63 per cent, or 304 out of 
483, in trade and transportation, to 59 per cent, or 
237 out of 400, in the non-wage-earning group, 
and 57 per cent, or 123 out of 215, in domestic and 
personal service. The girls under sixteen here 
made the best record, 65 per cent, 328 of 501 
remaining through February, with 63 per cent, or 
379 of the 597, between sixteen and eighteen, 62 
per cent, or 255 out of 413, between eighteen and 
twenty-one, and 58 per cent, or 266 out of 457, 
twenty-one years of age or older. 

Perhaps the most significant fact here is the 
really insignificant difference between the various 
groups, whether considered with reference to their 
occupations or their ages. Efforts to correlate the 
degree of perseverance in attendance with hours of 

155 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

labor in shop or office brought also negHgible re- 
sults. Undoubtedly the explanation is not that 
age, occupation, and hours of work are negligible 
factors, but that each is involved with so many 
other factors not revealed in the statistics that any 
attempt to measure their comparative strength by 
isolating them is foredoomed to failure. For 
example, the little Bohemian girl of fifteen who 
leaves the cigar factory at 6 o'clock and walks to 
her home across the street, finds it less difficult to 
go to evening school two blocks away than the 
American high school graduate who leaves a Wall 
Street office at 5 o'clock and travels home to the 
Bronx by subway, although the latter probably 
finds evening school more congenial, and is prob- 
ably less fatigued by her daily work. Then, too, 
outside interests and home duties so complicate 
the situation that we can not measure with ac- 
curacy the importance of any single circumstance 
of work, transit, or evening school methods. The 
complexity of the situation is well illustrated by 
the following statements made to us by 86 girls 
whom we interviewed in their homes to find out 
why they left evening school. 

The kind of information on which this preceding 
list is based is shown in the following illustrations 
of the girls' own explanations as we recorded them 
after our interviews: 

''Worked late in December. Also takes music 
lessons." 

156 



TABLE 28. 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

-REASONS GIVEN BY 86 WOMEN FOR LEAVING 
PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS 



Reason 


Women who 

left for each 

specified reason 


Reasons connected with daily occupation 

Home late from work 

Overtime and home work .... 

Too tired to go to night school 

Attending business school .... 


9 

12 

8 

I 


Total 


30 


Family reasons 
Girl's help needed at home .... 
Death of relatives 


6 

2 


Total 


8 


Personal reasons 

Health poor, night school too confining , 

Poor eyesight 

Other "attractions" — music lessons, choirs, 

etc 

Could not afford to pay carfare, lived too far 

from school 

To go out of town 

Home too late from school, street not safe . 


9 
5 

9 

3 

I 

4 


Total 


31 


Reasons connected with school 

"Didn't learn anything" 

"Didn't care for it" 

Dissatisfied with school methods . 
Dissatisfied with course 


4 
2 

3 

8 


Total 


17 


Grand total 


86 



"Sister having overtime, and girl couldn't go 
alone/' 

157 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

''Took the course in hand bookbinding but 
didn't learn anything and supplies too expensive/' 

"111. Also tired, as she is on her feet all day 
as a salesgirl. Home late frequently." 

"Was put at new machine in bookbinding which 
made her nervous, and she was so tired when she 
reached school that she would almost faint." 

''Mother afraid to let her go, as there are too 
many loafers on the street." 

''Was taking millinery, but found it would be 
cheaper to buy hats. Wanted to change to a 
general course but was told to wait till new term 
began." 

" Did not care for it. School is for 'greenhorns,' 
and class fools away the time. Might as well stay 
home and read." 

"Too tired at night, and light at school hurt her 
eyes. Also considers the course too long. Also, 
has to help mother with the housework." 

"Stenographer, works by artificial light by day. 
Must rest at night." 

"Before Christmas worked late and could not 
attend. Had never been absent before." 

"Attended a church fair several evenings and 
missed the school lessons. Didn't care to return, 
especially as class was too large (dressmaking) so 
that she could get very little attention." 

"Wanted time for other things." 

Regularity of attendance, however, is measured 
not only by continuance in school until the term is 
finished, but also by the number of nights a girl is 

158 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

present during the period when she is actually 
registered. It is pointed out in the New York 
report on evening schools for 191 3 that brief periods 
of attendance are often legitimate, as when pupils 
enter trade classes '* to learn some particular proc- 
ess, to handle some single machine, to familiarize 
themselves with some special phases of instruc- 
tion." The aim accomplished, it is not failure on 
the part of the school or lack of perseverance in the 
pupil if the records show only a brief stay. In 
order to determine the degree of this kind of regu- 
larity, the number of evenings attended must be 
compared with the number of evenings of possible 
attendance, not throughout the year but through 
the period of enrollment. This was the method of 
measuring attendance adopted for our group. As 
the method of tabulation was somewhat complex 
it will be described in detail. 

The records were grouped first according to 
schools, then according to ages, with the simple 
division of those under eighteen and those of 
eighteen or over, and finally according to the large 
occupational groups. On the tabulating sheet was 
recorded for each girl the number of evenings she 
was present in each month. Regularity of attend- 
ance during the year was determined for the 
different groups of women by combining the per- 
centages of attendance of the women included in 
each group. Each woman's "percentage of attend- 
ance" was the ratio of her actual attendance to her 
'^possible attendance." 1 1 was obtained by dividing 

159 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

the number of evenings she was present by the 
number of school evenings in the months in which 
she was present at least one evening. If she was 
present in October and then dropped out until 
January, school evenings in November and 
December were not considered in computing her 
percentage of attendance. " Possible attendance," 
in other words, equals the number of school even- 
ings in the months in which she was present at 
least one evening. 

The percentage of attendance for a whole year for 
a group of girls was secured by adding together the 
individual percentages of attendance, worked out 
separately for each girl, and then dividing the total 
by the number of girls in the group. If, for in- 
stance, Sophie was present in a high school i6 
evenings out of the possible 32 during October and 
November, and did not appear again, her regularity 
of attendance was 50 per cent. If Theresa was 
present at least one evening in each month between 
September and May and had a total attendance 
of 90 evenings when the high schools were open 120 
evenings in all, her measure of attendance was 75 
per cent. If Sophie and Theresa form a group to 
be studied together, the regularity of attendance 
of the group is 50 plus 75 divided by 2, or 62.5 per 
cent. 

The percentage of attendance obtained in this 
way for the period of enrollment was 67 per cent 
for 1,233 girls in high schools and 71 per cent for 
2,935 girls in elementary schools. The classifica- 

160 




Dkaping a Ciiii-ioN Wai?^: 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

tion by ages shows a record of 73 per cent during 
the time of enrollment for girls under eighteen, 
compared with 68 per cent for girls of eighteen 
or over. The occupational groups, eliminating 
professional work, in which the number considered 
was only four, varied from 64 per cent attendance 
during the time of enrollment for women in 
domestic and personal service to 72 per cent in 
manufacturing and mechanical pursuits, with 69 
per cent in trade and transportation and 70 per 
cent for women who were not at work. The lowest 
percentage of attendance during the period of en- 
rollment for any one school was 56, and the 
highest, 88. 

Irregularity of attendance means a waste of 
school equipment and time. It means that the 
schools accomplish less than they seem to accom- 
plish. The evening schools are in session, compara- 
tively speaking, but a few evenings in each month, 
and where attendance is irregular the average 
number of evenings of instruction per pupil may be 
considerably lower than the number of evenings 
the schools are in session. The average number of 
evenings of attendance per woman during a month 
was obtained by dividing the total number of 
evenings of actual attendance in the month by the 
number of women who were present at least one 
evening. To take a simple illustration, the schools 
were in session nine evenings during the month of 
December, 1 9 1 o. Assuming that, of a group of nine 
girls, only two attended every evening, while five 

161 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

attended seven evenings, one attended two even- 
ings, and one attended one evening, we find that 
the total attendance of the group was 56 evenings. 
Dividing 56 by the number of girls in the group, 
9, we have an average attendance of 6.2 evenings. 
The results of our computations are presented in 
Table 29, and graphically portrayed in Diagram 

in. 

The table shows that the school facilities were 
actually used in each month fewer evenings than 
the schools were in session. Thus in October, 
when the schools were in session 16 evenings, the 
average number of evenings attended both in 
high schools and in elementary schools was but 1 1 
evenings; and in March, when the schools were in 
session 18 evenings, the average number of even- 
ings attended was but 13. 

The reasons for irregularity of attendance are 
undoubtedly similar to those already discussed 
as the cause of dropping out before the close of 
the term. Those statements grouped themselves 
naturally under certain main heads, with, of course, 
many subsidiary circumstances in individual 
cases, — reasons connected with school and the 
failure of teachers to hold the interest of the pupils, 
reasons connected with work, conditions at home, 
personal reasons and outside interests. Undoubt- 
edly attendance will be improved as methods of 
teaching in the evening schools grow more efficient, 
but even then, if the facts which we have discussed 
are safe bases for prophecy, 100 per cent of the 

162 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 



pupils will not attend loo per cent of the time. 
For, as we have pointed out in the beginning of the 
chapter, the biggest handicap in evening school 

TABLE 29.— EVENINGS IN WHICH SCHOOLS WERE IN 
SESSION EACH MONTH, AND AVERAGE NUMBER 
OF EVENINGS OF ATTENDANCE PER WOMAN, 
FOR 1,233 WOMEN ATTENDING EVENING 
HIGH SCHOOLS AND 2,935 WOMEN AT- 
TENDING EVENING ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOLS a 





EVENING HIGH 


EVENING ELEMENTARY 




SCHOOLS 


SCHOOLS 


Month 




Average 




Average 




School 


evenings of 


School 


evenings of 




evenmgs 


attendance 


evenmgs 


attendance 




in month 


in month 
per woman 


in month 


in month 
per woman 


September . 


8 


6.8 


..b 


b 


October 






i6 


I I .o 


16 


10.9 


November 






i6 


II. 8 


16 


12.0 


December 






9 


6.9 


9 


71 


January 






I? 


12. I 


17 


12.5 


February 






14 


10. I 


14 


10.7 


March . 






i8 


13.0 


18 


'3-1 


April 






12 


8.9 


b 


b 


May 






10 


8.7 


b 


b 



* Complete attendance figures were secured for 1,233 of the 4,862 
women attending evening high schools, and for 2,935 of the 8,279 
women attending evening elementary schools. 

b Elementary schools not in session. 

work is the fact that it must be done in the even- 
ing. It is the bearing of this fact on a program of 
industrial education which is of importance from 

163 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



October 

November 

December 

January 

February 

March 



EVENING HIGH SCHOOLS 
4.8 




EVENING ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 




iZ.S 



J)7 



10.7 



13.4- 



ii6 



The total length of each bar represents the number of evenings the schools 
were in session, and the shaded portion represents average evenings of attendance 
per woman. 

Diagram HI. — Evenings in Which Schools Were in Session 
Each Month, and Average Number of Evenings of Attend- 
ance PER Woman for 1,233 Women Attending Evening High 
Schools and 2,935 Women Attending Evening Elementary 
Schools 

the point of view of our investigation, rather than 
any specific recommendations which we might be 
able to make to the schools. 

164 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

First, the facts seem to us to show conclusively 
that if a system of compulsory continuation schools 
for young wage-earners is to be developed, their 
sessions must be held by day and not by night. 
The present law requiring boys under sixteen who 
have not yet graduated from grammar school to 
attend evening school is a refmed form of cruelty. 
Even grown men and women, however ambitious 
they may be, fmd it difficult to persevere in a night 
class, and to compel young boys to carry such 
a burden is inconsistent with all our efforts to 
do away with child labor. Furthermore, it is a 
farce. No attendance officers are assigned to bring 
in the boys and only a minority ever appear in the 
evening schools. Those who come attend more 
irregularly than any other group. The law of 191 3 
which gave boards of education throughout the 
state the power to compel boys and girls under 
sixteen to attend part-time schools between the 
hours o 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., is a long step forward. 

Second, as a corollary of this recommendation 
that continuation schooling for young wage-earners 
should be given by day and not at night, it would 
seem desirable to exclude from evening schools all 
boys and girls under sixteen. The information 
which we have secured showing that of the girls 
under sixteen investigated by us, one in three 
reported no occupation to prevent her attending 
day school, is an indication that the evening 
schools may be quite unconsciously making it 
easier for girls of this age to leave day school. They 

165 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

like the excitement and the grown-up feeling of 
going to school at night. On the other hand, it is 
a fact recognized in many reports of evening schools 
that the presence of young boys and girls is often 
an embarrassment and a hindrance to older pupils 
who are eager to make good the deficiencies in 
their training. Years ago it was the twelve-year- 
olds and even the eight-year-olds whose exclusion 
was recommended. We might now take a step for- 
ward and definitely set apart the evening schools 
for those who are at least sixteen years old. Per- 
haps it would be one step toward keeping children 
out of industry until they are sixteen. 

Third, with the problem of the children elimi- 
nated, the schools could be more readily adapted 
to the needs of the older pupils. It is beyond the 
scope of this chapter to outline a program for 
such adaptation,* but one fact stands out clearly 
from a consideration of the attendance problem 
and the difficulties which it reveals in the path of 
aspiring students. The schools are now open in 
the winter months, from October to iVlarch or 
April in the elementary classes, with a month more 
added at each end in the high schools. It is a well- 
known fact that these are the busy months in 
many industries, while the cold weather and the 
early nightfall make evening school attendance 

* Those who are interested in the development of evening schools 
will find an able discussion of the subject in its many phases in Dr. 
Albert Shiels' Reports on Evening Schools for the Years Ending July 
31, 1912 and 1913, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Annual Reports of the 
Superintendent of Schools, New York City. 

166 



IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE 

exceedingly difficult. Recently summer sessions 
have been organized to teach English to foreigners 
and the attendance has been more regular than 
in the winter term. Thousands of working men 
and women are much less overworked and over- 
strained in the summer months. It would be 
an interesting experiment to offer them the op- 
portunity to join evening classes from April to 
October. More important than this specific sug- 
gestion, however, is the principle underlying it, — 
to adapt the evening schools more and more per- 
fectly to conditions in the lives of wage-earners, 
to offer them what they need when they need it, 
and at seasons when they are able to take full ad- 
vantage of it. 



167 



CHAPTER VII 

SOME PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRIAL 
EDUCATION 

THESE thirteen thousand girls whose school 
careers and subsequent occupations have 
been reviewed in the preceding chapters 
have proved by the fact of their attendance at 
night school that they desired, more or less 
vaguely, some additional education. In many 
instances their enrollment in a night class was a 
protest against inadequate schooling in early 
years and inadequate training in shop or factory 
since their wage-earning began. Whether the 
failure of the school was due to lack of vocational 
training during the years they could attend, these 
workers could not have told us definitely or con- 
clusively; but neither could many famous educa- 
tors reach a definite conclusion even with all the 
facts before them. For of all the problems of 
school or industry today, perhaps none is more 
baffling than the one which is common to both, 
namely, that of industrial education. 

It is generally conceded that if the problem of 
industrial training be a difficult one for boys, it is 
still more so for girls. For boys, wage-earning is 
considered a matter of course, but that the com- 

i68 



PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION 

plexity of our economic life requires wage-earning 
of girls also — as is becoming increasingly the case 
— the public does not yet realize. To know the 
facts about these thirteen thousand girls in even- 
ing school is to advance a little way, therefore, 
toward an understanding of economic conditions 
and a comprehension of some of the most difficult 
and baffling problems in current educational and 
industrial policy. Changing conditions of indus- 
try; variety and range of occupations; monotony, 
long hours, and specialized tasks; evidences of 
exploitation of workers; an early beginning of the 
wage-earning career, and consequently, a short 
period for schooling, — these are the salient con- 
ditions brought out in this study. 

Successive reports of the evening schools have 
discussed the rapid changes in women's work. 
Slightly more than fifty years ago the sewing ma- 
chine had been recently introduced and the de- 
velopment of the department store was just 
beginning. Employment of women in stores was 
advocated by the board of education to relieve 
the unfortunate condition in the sewing trades 
resulting from the displacement of hand work- 
ers through the introduction of the sewing ma- 
chine. The process of change has brought about 
a rapid development of new tasks through in- 
creasing complexity in industrial life. Those who 
advocate confining the vocational training of wom- 
en to the traditional home pursuits, such as sew- 
ing and cooking, do not take into account the 

169 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

fact that the work of girls outside the home is 
now an established factor in industrial life. In- 
teresting testimony on this point was offered 
recently by a group of women well qualified to 
speak; namely, by the delegates at the fourth bien- 
nial convention of the National Women's Trade 
Union League. The president, in discussing in- 
dustrial education, declared that ''no denial of 
trade education will keep a girl out of a trade, 
and if she is denied entrance by the front door 
as a skilled, trained artisan, she will enter by 
the back door as an under-bidder.'' * 

The evening school girls included in this study 
were employed in manufacturing and mechanical 
pursuits, in trade and transportation, in pro- 
fessions, and in domestic and personal service. 
The occupations of the girls employed in manu- 
facturing and mechanical pursuits are illustrative 
of the many subdivisions within these large in- 
dustrial groups. In the manufacture of diverse 
products, these girls were at work in nine large 
industries, with 82 distinct trade divisions and a 
countless number of processes of work within 
these divisions. The New York state depart- 
ment of labor lists 12 large industrial groups 
in this state, and all but three of them — the 
manufacture of paper and pulp, the building 
trades, and the industry of supplying water, 
light, and power in cities and villages — were 

* Life and Labor, August, 191 3, p. 231. Published monthly by 
the National Women's Trade Union League, Chicago. 

170 



PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION 

represented on the record cards of the evening 
school girls. 

" Entering by the back door as an under-bidder" 
seems to have been the lot of many women work- 
ers, if the results of recent investigations are to 
be credited. Educators must take into consider- 
ation not only the variety and range of women's 
tasks, but the conditions which are deplorable in 
industry today. For, to train boys and girls for 
work which stunts and injures them, would be a 
new form of exploitation. Factory management 
must create conditions in harmony with the ideal 
of the educator, which is to secure a fuller life 
for men and women. The community must ask 
this question before planning a program of indus- 
trial education: Are employers of labor ready to 
meet their full share of responsibility by changing 
the conditions which are now producing inefficiency 
and checking mental development? Monotony 
in work, long hours of employment, and child 
labor are indicative of the conditions which need 
changing. 

Consider as an example of monotonous work 
one of the pictures given us in the United States 
government report on woman wage-earners: 

"The catcher (in a cigarette factory) sits before the 
cigarette machine, catching the cigarettes as they 
fall, stacking them on the trays, and examining them 
for imperfections. The work requires some training, 
as the catcher must be able to tell at a glance whether 
the cigarette is too soft, or too hard, whether it is 

171 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

crumpled at the end, or shows any other imperfection. 
She sits at her work and has no opportunity for a 
change of position unless the machine is stopped to 
make some adjustment. During a day of ten hours 
the catcher will catch and examine from 130,000 to 
200,000 cigarettes."* 

Or again: Hand packing 

''also is a woman's occupation. The packer sits at 
a long bench on which are the cartons and the trays of 
cigarettes brought from the machines. Aligning the 
cigarettes on the bench in front of them, the packers 
rapidly push or place them in the box, usually handling 
five at a time, and close the box. The work is light 
and easy and the only strain involved is that due to 
the demand for speed. The movements soon become 
mechanical, so that the packer is apt to keep her 
hands and body moving unconsciously even when she 
is not packing."! 

Pasting internal revenue stamps upon packages 
of cigarettes is another process which so captures 
the worker, body and soul, that movement be- 
comes as involuntary as the throb of machinery. 

"Taking a row of stamps in her right hand and a 
package of cigarettes in her left, the woman puts a 
stamp over the end, gives a quick jerk which tears it 
off from the row, puts the package back, seizes another, 
repeats the operation, and so on indefinitely. The 
women and girls get to doing his sort of work very 

* Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage-Earners in the 
United States. Vol. XVIII, Employment of Women and Children 
in Selected Industries, p. 8i. U. S. Senate Document No. 645. 

t Ibid., p. 83. 

172 



PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION 

rapidly, as it is wholly mechanical. Some of them 
fall into a rhythmic jerking of the hand and swinging 
of the body which they keep up even when haltjed 
for a short time by some lack of material/'* 

Vivid illustrations these, of a kind of skill 
which makes no demand upon the intelligence, 
while it adapts the body perfectly to its own pur- 
poses. Such tasks have a more serious effect 
upon the physical and mental condition when 
hours of labor are prolonged. That working 
hours are too long is shown by the reports of 
girls in the evening schools. In manufacturing, 
only 15 per cent were working eight hours or 
less; in stores, only 4.5 per cent worked eight 
hours or less, while 52 per cent worked between 
eight and nine hours a day, 36 per cent between 
nine and nine and one-half, and 7.5 per cent, nine 
and one-half or longer. Eighty-four of every 100 
of the factory girls began work before 8:30 a.m. 
and only 19 in every 100 stopped work before 
half-past five. Over half of the factory workers, 
51 per cent, and 41 per cent in trade and trans- 
portation, did not leave work until 6 o'clock or 
later. These were the normal hours, and in the 
busy season they were often prolonged. 

Long hours of work were not confined to older 
workers. Even the fourteen- and fifteen-year-old 
children were subject to them, although often in 
violation of the state law. Only 16 percent, or 104 

♦ Ibid., p. 83. 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

of 665 girls under sixteen in trade and transporta- 
tion, worked less than eight hours daily, and 16 
per cent had an eight-hour day, while 41 per cent 
worked between eight and nine hours, and 27 per 
cent nine hours or longer. In factories, 592 of 
898 factory girls under sixteen, or 66 per cent, 
were working longer than eight hours, in spite of 
the fact that eight hours is the legal limit for 
children under sixteen in manufacturing estab- 
lishments. 

That these children should be attending even- 
ing school at all after such hours is deplorable. 
Indeed, many believe now that their presence 
in industrial establishments is a reproach to in- 
dustry and the community. So long as we per- 
mit girls and boys to go to work at the age of 
fourteen, we must expect the wage-earners of the 
future to suffer not only from the bad effects 
of premature employment, but from inadequate 
schooling. 

Of 10,676 of the evening school girls of all ages 
whose reports of their school careers showed the 
age when they left school, 40 per cent left at the 
age of fourteen and 14 per cent were even younger 
than fourteen. Only 20 per cent had stayed 
until they were sixteen or older. 

To leave school to go to work at an early age is 
one of the signs of an inadequate standard of living 
in the community — interpreting standard of liv- 
ing to mean not only food, clothing, and housing, 
but educational ideals — and is due to as great a 

174 




Sews Linings in Hat Factory by Day 
Learning to make the hats at night 



PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION 

variety of causes as determine standards of living. 
Of the evening school girls who were asked why they 
had left school before the age of sixteen, exactly half 
reported that their earnings had been necessary at 
home, and their statements were corroborated by 
their families. Only seven of another group of i8o 
working girls under sixteen lived with relatives who 
were not members of their immediate family, while 
the others, loi, were living in their own homes, and 
the fathers of more than three-fourths of these, 
77, were at work. Undoubtedly these families 
did feel economic pressure, due probably to in- 
adequate wages earned by the father. 

Thus it is that the problem of industrial edu- 
cation in this manifestation of it, namely, the 
early termination of the school career, is closely 
related to the conditions which produce poverty 
in the community. On the other hand, it may 
have been questionable whether the poverty of 
these families was relieved to any appreciable 
extent by the employment of their children for 
low wages, often in irregular work, without any 
foundation training for future earning capacity. 
The community can do much to remedy this 
condition directly by prolonging the years of 
schooling for children. Already an apparently 
simple and unimportant change in the compulsory 
education law and the labor law, requiring that a 
child complete the sixth grade instead of merely 
reaching the fifth grade, as heretofore, before he 
is able to secure a work certificate, has resulted 

»75 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

in cutting down the issuance of work certificates ; * 
and that, too, in a year in which unemployment 
had been a serious problem and economic pressure 
in wage-earners' families in New York unusually 
severe. 

That the length of attendance in school and the 
grade reached does bear some relation to the later 
choice of an occupation, is revealed by a study 
of the facts among 10,000 of these evening school 
pupils. Only 33 per cent of the group had had nine 
years or more of schooling; but this proportion 
varied from 23 per cent in manufacturing and 24 
per cent in domestic and personal service to 38 per 
cent in trade and transportation and 81 per cent 
in the professions. 

Over 8,000 girls reported that the last school 
attended was a public school in New York City. Of 
the girls in this group, for whom data as to grade at 
leaving school were available, 40 in every 100 left 
before graduating from an elementary school, 37 
per cent graduated but did not continue to high 
school, 23 per cent entered high school, but only 3 
per cent finished the high school course. It is sig- 
nificant, however, that in professional service 72 
per cent were high school graduates, as compared 

* The number of employment certificates issued in the first quarter 
of 1914, compared with the corresponding period in 1913, in New 
York City, is as follows: 

1913 10,418 

1914 7,800 

(These figures are furnished by the department of health. They 
are not yet in print elsewhere.) 

176 



PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION 

with the small fraction of i per cent (.2 per cent) 
of those employed in manufacturing. Of the fac- 
tory girls, 55 per cent reached the fifth, sixth, or 
seventh grades in the elementary school. In trade 
and transportation, the proportion who finished 
the elementary grades was comparatively large, 
76 per cent as compared with 31 per cent of 
the factory girls. Some one of the tasks offered 
in manufacturing or mechanical pursuits, or in 
domestic or personal service, would appear to offer 
the most common opportunity for the child who 
leaves elementary school before graduating. If she 
reaches graduation day she is more likely to find 
work in some branch of trade and transportation, 
and if she completes the high school course she 
may ultimately become a professional worker. 

For the large majority of workers in factory 
industries, according to our statistics, the schools 
under present conditions must complete their task 
of training in less than nine years. Within the 
manufacturing group, the facts regarding grade 
reached in school vary greatly for the different 
trades. A rough comparison with census figures 
regarding wages seems to indicate that the girls 
whose progress in school, measured by grades 
covered, was cut short, were most likely to enter 
the lowest-paid occupations. In brief, there would 
appear to be a great difference in different trades 
in requiring from workers the kind of foundation 
training now offered in the schools; or perhaps it is 
fundamentally a difference in the amount of in- 

177 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

telligence required, — a difference showing first in 
school progress and later in occupational efficiency. 
Only a detailed study of conditions within these 
occupations could show in a more fundamental 
way the real significance of this situation, if, in- 
deed, we are justified in drawing a conclusion from 
the data at hand. 

The school authorities in New York are keenly 
alive to the need for trade education, although the 
term ''trade education" has, as yet, only a vague 
meaning. In the last report of the president of the 
board of education, issued in January, 1914, this 
statement is made:* 

" We are not, in this city, doing nearly enough along 
the lines of vocational education. Something more 
is needed than the mere writing of reports upon the 
needs. Over 40,000 young boys and girls leave our 
elementary schools annually to go to work. Only a 
very small proportion of our elementary school grad- 
uates go on into high school. Our trade schools have 
an enrollment of only 857 — a pitiably small num- 
ber in proportion to the numbers leaving the school 
system to go to work. No other problem of educa- 
tion is of more concern to the board of education than 
this .... 

"In favor of continuation instruction for wage- 
earners, there is absolute agreement. Hitherto, this 
continuation work in the schools of this city has, with 
slight exception, been carried on in the evening schools, 
and the development of industrial instruction in these 

* Board of Education, New York City. Report of the President, 
January, 1914, p. 9. 

178 



PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION 

schools within the last two years has been a consider- 
able one. It is desirable, however, that continuation 
classes should be established during the day. Under 
such conditions pupils will receive instruction during 
working hours and not after a day of exhausting labor/' 

By a state law, to which reference has already 
been made,* boards of education in the various 
cities who may decide to organize part-time 
classes by day are given legislative authority to 
compel the attendance of girls and boys under 
sixteen. This leaves the way open for experiment 
along this line. Meanwhile, evening classes for 
wage-earners, like those already described in Chap- 
ter V, are making valuable experiments. The 
Manhattan Trade School for Girls and the Voca- 
tional School for Boys represent a different type 
of industrial education from that given in these 
evening or continuation classes; namely, prelimi- 
nary practice in specific trade processes. Thus 
far, however, as the statement just quoted shows, 
this kind of preliminary trade training has been 
accessible to only a very small number of students. 
Whether or not it will prove desirable to extend 
it can be decided only by a thorough testing of 
results already achieved. 

The following are some of the questions which 
have not yet been answered conclusively in any 
community: Is industrial education to be chiefly 
practice in processes of work as training for a 
specific trade, or will it prove possible to discover 

* See footnote, p. 74. 
179 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

certain fundamental principles common to many 
industries, which can be made part of the school 
curriculum and which will train children in general 
efficiency as a foundation for later training in 
industry? What shall be done for the workers 
whose special tasks require no practice except that 
which can readily be secured in a workroom and 
whose occupations involve no fundamental prin- 
ciples? Consider, for example, the evening school 
girl whose sole occupation was to put nuts on cakes 
and whose previous work had been to paste chenille 
dots on veils. If it is desirable to extend the work 
of trade schools which give specific, preliminary 
training for industries, is it within the bounds of 
possibility that the New York schools should 
some day be able to give such training in the proc- 
esses of every occupation in the community? If a 
community must select the occupations for which 
courses will be offered, what shall be the basis of 
selection? To what extent will increased efficiency 
in the teaching force and an improved curriculum 
in the elementary school result in so strengthening 
the foundation training that some of the later 
problems of industrial education will disappear? 
If the age limit for employment be raised to sixteen 
years, what types of courses shall be offered to 
children between the ages of fourteen and sixteen? 
If the continuation schools now advocated by the 
New York board of education should be established, 
how can the courses be planned so that they shall 
not be echoes of elementary teaching but adapted 

1 80 



PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION 

to the needs of young workers in a great variety of 
occupations? 

These are puzzling questions, relating not only 
to the evening schools but to the whole educa- 
tional system. The fact that they are being 
asked in so many communities and answered ex- 
perimentally is hopeful. 

The development of industrial education, how- 
ever, depends not only upon the schools but also 
upon modern industry. The methods of training 
workers must change with changing requirements 
in the shops. It is an open question as to whether 
the process of specialization will be carried further, 
whether more and more machinery will be in- 
troduced until production shall have become chiefly 
automatic, or whether there will be an increasing 
opportunity for individual skill. It is the need for 
individual skill which the schools can most readily 
meet. Far more difficult is the problem of broaden- 
ing the outlook of workers employed in monotonous 
unskilled tasks. 

The movement for raising the standards in 
industry through legislation will undoubtedly be 
an important factor in bringing about changed 
conditions. Hours are being reduced, the employ- 
ment of children discouraged, and even rates of 
pay regulated by the community. Already nine 
states* have passed minimum wage laws, eight of 

* Brief on Behalf of Respondents; Stettler vs. Industrial Welfare 
Commission of the State of Oregon. Supreme Court of the State of 
Oregon, October Term, 191 3; p. 3, Insert. 

181 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

which provide for commissions to determine rates 
of pay for each industry, and one establishes by 
law a definite minimum wage. Other states. 
New York among them, have appointed commis- 
sions to study wages. The raising of wages may 
tend to make the employment of inefficient and 
unskilled workers for minor tasks and odd jobs too 
expensive, and may compel employers to pay more 
attention both to the training of employes and to 
the reorganization of work. 

It is because of these increasingly important 
influences in the conduct of business, as well as 
because of the inevitable changes in industrial 
methods which grow out of new inventions and 
new ideas of management, that industrial educa- 
tion becomes for the schools a problem to be 
solved only by searching inquiry, by experiment, 
and by constant readjustment to changing condi- 
tions. 



182 



PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION 

NOTES ON CENSUS OF OCCUPATIONS, 19 lo 

As this book goes to press, the volume on occupations 
in 1 9 10 is just received from the bureau of the census. 
The total number* of women gainfully employed in 
New York City in 19 10 was 586,193, as compared with 
367,437 in 1900. The increase was larger than the 
increase in number of women in the population. In 
1900, of every 100 women ten years of age and over in 
the city, 27 were gainfully employed, while in 19 10, 31 
in every hundred were at work. The number employed 
in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits was 207,959, 
or 35.5 per cent of the whole group of wage-earning 
women, in trade and transportation 137,778 or 23.5 
per cent, in domestic and personal service, 191,152 
or 32.6 per cent, and in professional service 48,423 or 
8.3 per cent. Comparison with the chart on page 53 
shows that the proportion in trade and transportation 
had increased from 17.8 per cent to 23.5 per cent, 
while the group in manufacturing and mechanical 
pursuits was 35.5 per cent of the total as compared with 
36.1 per cent in 1900. The proportion in professional 
service increased slightly, while domestic and personal 
service decreased from 39.9 per cent to 32.6 per cent. 
Of all the wage-earners in the city — 2,152,433 — the 
men numbered 1,566,240, and the women 586,193, or 
27 per cent as compared with 25 per cent in 1900. 

* Thirteenth United States Census, 19 10. Occupation Statistics, 
p. 180. 



183 



APPENDICES 




1 86 



APPENDIX I 
TABLES 



TABLE A.*— WOMEN ATTENDING PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS, WHO 

WERE INCLUDED IN THIS INVESTIGATION. AND WOMEN 

FOR WHOM INFORMATION IS PRESENTED IN THE 

DIFFERENT TABLES* 





Women to 


Women who 


Women who 


Number of table and subject 


whom subject 
of table 


supplied 
information 


did not 
supply 




applied 




information 


I. Women who filled record cards 








for this investigation 


13,141 


13,141 




2. Nativity of women 


13,141 


13,050 


9' 


3. Nativity of fathers of women . 


J3.I4I 


12,768 


373 


4. Ages of women .... 


13,141 


12,987 


154 


6. Daily occupations 


13,141 


13,141 




7. Main groups of occupations in 








manufacturing and mechanical 








pursuits 


4,519 


4,5«9 




8. Daily occupations of women em- 








ployed in trade and transpor- 








tation 


4,505 


4,505 




ID. Normal daily hours of work in 








manufacturing and mechanical 








pursuits, and in trade and 








transportation . . . _ . 


9.024 


7,516 


1,508b 


il. Hours of beginning and leaving 








work in manufacturing and 








mechanical pursuits, and in 








trade and transportation : 








Hours of beginning work . 


9,024 


7,671 


1,353*' 


Hours of leaving work . 


9,024 


7,674 


1,350b 


13. Normal daily hours of work of 








girls under sixteen years of age 








employed in trade and trans- 








portation 


740 


665 


75° 


13. Normal daily hours of work of 








girls under sixteen years of age 








employed in manufacturing 








and mechanical pursuits . 


1,044 


898 


I46d 


14. Day schools previously attended 








at any time by women attend- 








ing evening schools . 


13. 141 


> 1,745 


1, 396" 


15. Last day school attended . 


J3-«4i 


12,276 


865 



* Table continued on following pages. See footnotes, p. 189. 



187 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



TABLE A (Continued) 



Number of table and subject 



1 6. Proportion of women whose only 

previous day school attendance 
was in NewYork public schools 

17. Gradeat leaving school of women 

who last attended day school in 
a New York public school 

18. Grade at leaving school of women 

who last attended day school 
in a New York public school, 
and employed in five selected 
manufacturing pursuits . 

19. Progress made in elementary 

school by women who had at- 
tended New York public 
schools only .... 

20. Years of attendance at day 

school 

21. Age at leaving school . 

27. Months in which women attend- 
ing public evening schools 
dropped out .... 

B. Women who filled record cards, 

by schools 

C. Nativity of fathers of women, 

by schools 

D. Industries of women em.ployed 

in manufacturing and mechan- 
ical pursuits, by type of school 
and borough . . . 

E. Length of noon recess in manu- 

facturing and mechanical pur- 
suits and in trade and trans- 
portation 

F. Normal daily hours of work of 

women employed in manufac- 
turingand mechanical pursuits, 
by main groups of occupations 

G. Ages of women by principal oc- 

cupational groups and by se- 
lected occupations . 



Women to 

whom subject 

of table 

applied 



13,141 
8,174 

755 

6.520 

13,141 
13.MI 

13,141 

13.141 
13,141 

4.519 
9.024 

4.519 
J3.I4I 



Women who 

supplied 
information 



M.745 
7.854 

706 

5.711 

10,119 
10,676 

4.093 
13,141 
12,768 

4.5>9 
7,629 

3-470 
12,987 



Women who 
did not 
supply 

information 



i,396« 
320 

49 
809 

3,022<» 
2,465* 

9.048 



373 



J,395'» 

!;049' 
154 



188 



APPENDIX I 



TABLE A (Continued) 





Women to 




Women who 




whom subject 


Women who 


did not 


Number of table and subject 


of table 


supplied 


supply 
information 




applied 


information 


H. Age at leaving school of women 








employed in manufacturing 








and mechanical pursuits, by 








main groups of occupations . 


4.519 


3,088 


«.43«« 


I. Years of attendance at high 








school of women who last 








attended day school in New 








York public high schools . 


1,803 


I.74I 


62 


J. Women in selected occupations 








in trade and transportation 








and in manufacturing and me- 








chanical pursuits by 








Age 


6,494 


6,429 


65 


Nativity of fathers 


6,494 


6,298 


196 


Nativity of women 


6,494 


6.447 


47 


Last school attended . 


6.494 


6,049 


445 


Age at leaving school . 


6.494 


5.187 


1,307 


Daily hours of work . 


6,494 


5.433 


1,061 


K. Grade at leaving school for 








women who last attended day 








school in a New York public 








school, in manufacturing and 








mechanical pursuits by 








Principal occupations . 


2,213 


2,027 


185 


Selected occupations . 


4.127 


4.034 


93 



•Tables 5, 9, 22, 26, and 28, and Tables L, M, and N are omitted because they 
are not adapted to this table. See tables. 

b Including 511 unemployed or working at home, and 689 who were in an evening 
school for which the data as to hours were found to be inaccurate and were not 
tabulated. 

Including 44 unemployed and 10 who were in an evening school for which the 
data as to hours were found to be inaccurate and were not tabulated. 

d Including 59 unemployed and 58 in an evening school for which the data as to 
hours were found to be inaccurate and were not tabulated. 

o Including 896 in evening schools for which data on the location of day schools 
attended were incomplete and were not tabulated. 

^ Including 193 unemployed or working at home, and 658 who were in an evening 
school for which the data as to hours were found to be inaccurate and were not 
tabulated. 

8 Including 827 in two schools for which the data on age at leaving day school 
were incomplete and were not tabulated. 



189 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

TABLE B.*— PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS INCLUDED IN THE INVES- 

TIGATION, REGISTRATION, AND AVERAGE ATTENDANCE OF 

WOMEN IN THESE SCHOOLS DURING THE REGULAR TERM, 

AND NUMBER OF WOMEN FOR WHOM RECORDS WERE 

TABULATED BY LOCATION AND TYPE OF SCHOOL 



Location and designation 


Register of 


Average attendance 


Women included in 


of school 


women 


of women 


the investigation 


Manhattan and the Bronx 








High and trade schools: 








East Side high 


1,199 


687 


847 


Harlem high 


2,088 


781 


883 


Morris high, mixed . 


1,220» 


398 


453 


New York high and 








trade 


1,269 


464 


404 


Total . 


5,776 


2,330 


2.587 


Elementary schools 








4 


1,126 


524 


161 


lO 


698 


230 


443 


13 


1,192 


565 


143 


14 


538 


188 


179 


>7 


500 


268 


333 


19 


1.223 


382 


113 


23 


245 


145 


135 


^S 


302 


90 


44 


38 


400 


228 


«36 


42 


1,605 


698 


717 


45 


f77 


227 


247 


59 


626 


253 


250 


67 


778 


291 


III 


71 


1.725 


702 


212 


72 


2.425 


7«8 


405 


89 


507 


205 


114 


92 


J.347 


440 


109 


93 


644 


270 


228 


96 


1.079 


561 


5'8 


157 


755 


386 


282 


177 


996 


362 


'79 


Total . 


19,388 


7,733 


5.059 


Brooklyn and Long Island 








City 








High and trade schools: 








Bay Ridge high . 


562 


165 


139 


Brooklyn trade, mixed 


460b 


175 


228 


Central high 


J.592 


636 


1.029 


Long Island City high 








and trade, mixed 


449' 


131 


188 


Williamsburg high 


1,071 


492 


691 


Total . . 


4,134 


1,599 


2,275 



• Table continued on following page. See footnotes, p. 191 . 

190 



APPENDIX I 



TABLE B (Continued) 



Location and type 
of school 


Register of women 


Average attendance 
of women 


Women included in 
the investigation 


BROOKLrN AND LoNO 








Island City 








Elementary schools 






285 


3 


678 


255 


5 


539 


158 


167 


15 


907 


476 


444 


18 


728 


306 


187 


32 


688 


248 


255 


36 


577 


257 


219 


40 


351 


131 


180 


93 


195 


73 


57 


lOI 


150 


52 


52 


103 


«37 


62 


42 


»34 


214 


60 


33 


141 


1,142 


514 


258 


142 


556 


=^^ 


164 


144 


561 


166 


54 


14$ 


716 


320 


241 


150 


821 


333 


182 


;;i 


445 
539 


167 


194 
206 


Total 


9.944 


4.003 


3,220 


Grand total 


39.242 


15.665 


13.141 



• The register of women was not given separately from that of the men. The num- 
ber of women on enrollment has been substituted, as there is usually no material 
difference between the two sets of figures. 

b Neither the number of women on register nor on enrollment was available. An 
estimate has been made of the number of women on register in relation to the total 
register of the school on the basis of the proportion that the number of women in 
average attendance formed of the total average attendance. 



191 



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192 



APPENDIX I 



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193 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



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194 



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195 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



TABLE E.— LENGTH OF NOON RECESS FOR WOMEN ATTENDING 

PUBLIC EVENING SCHOOLS EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTURING 

AND MECHANICAL PURSUITS AND IN TRADE AND 

TRANSPORTATION 



WOMEN EMPLOYED IN 



Length of noon recess 


Manufacturing and 
mechanical pursuits 


Trade and 
transportation 




Number 


Per cent 


Number 


Per cent 


Less than 30 minutes . . . 
30 minutes and less than 45 minutes . 
45 minutes and less than 60 minutes . 
60 minutes or more 


19 

i.54> 

609 

• 378 


•5 
43-5 
17.2 
38.8 


12 

405 

972 

2,693 


3 

9.9 

23.8 

66.0 


Total 


3,547» 


100. 


4,082a 


100. 



» Data relative to hours of work have been tabulated onl>^ for women who were 
employed at date of investigation. Of the 4,519 engaged in manufacturing and 
mechanical pursuits, 190 were unemployed, three worked at home, 658 were in an 
evening school for which the data as to hours were found to be inaccurate and were 
not tabulated, and of the 3,668 remaining, 121 did not supply information. Of the 
4,505 in trade and transportation, 317 were unemployed, one worked at home, 22 
were in an evening school for which the data were not tabulated, and of the 4,165 
remaining, 83 did not supply information. One in trade and transportation worked 
only half days and had no noon recess. 



196 



APPENDIX I 





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197 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



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198 



APPENDIX I 







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199 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



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200 



APPENDIX I 



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88 


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Age of women 

Less than i6 years 

1 6 years and less than i8 

years 

i8 years and less than 21 

years 

2 1 years or more . 


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Nativity of fathers of wor 
Russia . . . . 
United States 
Germany 
Ireland . 
Austria-Hungary » 
Great Britain 
Italy . . 
Scandinavia . 
Roumania 
Other countries 



201 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 





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APPENDIX I 



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WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



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APPENDIX I 



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205 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 



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APPENDIX I 



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211 



APPENDIX II 

MEMORANDUM REGARDING A SYSTEM OF 
EVENING SCHOOL RECORDS 

THE following suggestions are offered by the Com- 
mittee on Women's Work of the Russell Sage 
Foundation at the invitation of Dr. John H. 
Haaren, associate city superintendent in charge of 
evening schools in New York. As the Committee on 
Women's Work is concerned with investigations of 
women in industry, not with school administration, a 
prefatory word of explanation as to the reasons for 
presenting this memorandum is desirable.* 

The suggestions are based on the experience of agents 
of the committee in handling the present school record 
books and cards in the course of an investigation of 
working girls enrolled in public evening schools in Man- 
hattan, Bronx, and Brooklyn during the winter of 
1910-1 1. It was a study, not of the schools, but of the 
pupils, — age, nationality, previous schooling, present 
occupation, and hours of work. The method, made 
possible by the co-operation of Dr. Haaren and the 
principals, was to have cards filled out by English- 
speaking girls attending the classes on a given night 
in the autumn when attendance is at a maximum. 
(See card No. i, reproduced p. 186.) The total number 
secured was 13,737. In the spring, investigators re- 
turned to the schools in Manhattan and the Bronx to 
secure information about the attendance of a large 

* This memorandum was submitted to Dr. John H. Haaren, 
associate city superintendent in charge of evening schools, and 
later to Dr. Albert Shiels, district superintendent in charge of even- 
ing schools. The main suggestions were adopted and a 5 by 8 card 
record system was introduced into the evening elementary schools 
in 1 9 12. These are now in use throughout the city. 

212 



A SYSTEM OF EVENING SCHOOL RECORDS 

proportion of the girls who had filled these cards. This 
information was obtained directly from the teachers* 
roll books, and the work of copying it made unavoid- 
able a close examination of the present system of 
record keeping. 

The aim of the investigation was twofold. The 
analysis of the occupations and hours of work of a 
large group of working women affords an excellent foun- 
dation for a more intensive study of women in industry. 
At the same time the study of the women who are now 
seeking more education in the public schools throws 
light on the types which would probably be represented 
in the continuation schools advocated as an important 
part of a system of industrial education. Furthermore, 
many vexed problems of evening school administration 
are traceable to the hours of labor and other work con- 
ditions affecting day after day the welfare of evening 
school pupils. Thus, although the investigation was 
undertaken primarily as part of a study of women in 
industry, the results have convinced us that more in- 
formation regarding the individual girl or boy, woman 
or man enrolled in evening classes would have some 
important results for the schools. We believe that a 
uniform record system would aid the teachers in study- 
ing their pupils and in meeting their individual needs, 
that it would result in greater economy of time in pre- 
paring the required statistical reports, that it would 
afford data for a solution of some vexed problems of 
evening school administration, and that it would bring 
to the schools a body of information of incalculable 
value in working out a program of industrial education. 

In other words, the sort of card record system now 
recognized as important in day school work may well 
be tried out in evening schools. In the evening schools 
the record would include not only facts about the per- 
sonal history and schooling of the pupil, but also facts 
about the daily industrial environment. It is to pro- 
vide for such study of individuals that we would sug- 
gest the consideration of some possible changes m the 
present method of record keeping. 

213 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 
PRESENT METHODS OF KEEPING RECORDS* 

I. Elementary Evening Schools 

No uniform book or other form is provided. The 
information secured is determined mainly by the weekly 
and yearly statistical reports which the department of 
education requires. When a pupil applies for admis- 
sion the principal or clerk records the date of applica- 
tion, name, address, occupation, age, and last school 
attended. Blank books of various kinds are used, 
possibly one designed for day schools, or any other 
which the principal may have at hand. 
\ The method in some schools is slightly different. In 
addition to the admission book one principal keeps the 
detailed record of attendance of each pupil and the 
date of discharge. Another has lists filled by each 
teacher giving the facts about attendance for each of 
her pupils. Other principals keep in their offices only 
the total figures of attendance in each class. 

The teachers' records in all the elementary evening 
schools in Manhattan, except two, are kept in roll books 
printed for day schools or in blank books ruled and cut 
by the teacher. These books contain the name, ad- 
dress, age, and sometimes, though rarely, the occupa- 
tion of each pupil. The daily attendance is indicated 
by a slanting' line in a ruled square. In the roll books 
printed for the day schools, spaces are provided for 
daily attendance for five months, the length of a term 
in day school. As the evening elementary schools are 
always open six months, from October to March in- 
clusive, and sometimes into April, the marking of 
attendance in the sixth or seventh month becomes a 
problem to be solved by the ingenuity of each teacher. 
Some use again the spaces of the last two months, 
slanting the lines in the opposite direction. Others 
check an improvised set of squares on the opposite 
page. Others copy all the names again in another 

* This refers to the school year of 1910-1 1. 
214 



A SYSTEM OF EVENING SCHOOL RECORDS 

part of the book, thus separating the record of attend- 
ance of each girl in a very inconvenient way. 

In one school, the inconvenience of this method has 
led to the introduction of a card record system, pro- 
vided by the principal at her own expense. Another 
principal in a nearby school adopted the following 
plan this winter: A 3 by 5 card is used, printed by 
means of a rubber stamp. On the front are the facts 
about the pupil, as follows: Date of admission, class, 
name, address, parent, nationality, last school, last 
grade, occupation, date of discharge, attendance first 
term, second term. On the back is space for the daily 
record of attendance, with a ruled square for each day 
of the month. When a pupil is discharged, her card 
is filed in the principal's office. Obviously, in view of 
the great fluctuation in attendance in the evening 
schools, the card record's adaptability to changes is a 
great advantage over the book in which a name can 
only be crossed out, and continues to cumber the pages 
for the rest of the year. 

Thus the situation may be summed up by saying 
that no uniform system of records has yet been devised 
for the elementary evening schools. The result is in- 
convenience, loss of the teachers' time, danger of inac- 
curacy in making statistical reports, and the loss of 
much valuable information, some of which is now 
secured by principals and teachers but not made avail- 
able because not recorded in a uniform and convenient 
way. 

II. Evening High Schools 

A uniform card record system is already installed in 
th^ evening high schools, and its use there gives promise 
of the development of a similar system in the elementary 
schools. 

When a pupil applies for admission, a card, 3 by 5 
inches in size, is filed in the principal's office. The 
teacher's record form for marking attendance is of the 
same size. The attendance is not marked by months 
but in groups of 10 evenings to aid the teacher in 

215 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

reporting the number of pupils attending i-io evenings, 
10-20, 20-30, and so forth. The objection to it is that 
the number of possible evenings of attendance varies 
from month to month, and so it is difficult to keep 
track of the date which each square represents. For 
example, in the past winter, the number of possible 
evenings of attendance was 16 in October, 16 in Novem- 
ber, 17 in January. A Hudson-Fulton celebration, or 
Lincoln's Birthday on Friday instead of Monday would 
change this count. The teachers say that this is con- 
fusing and necessitates a guide card with dates inserted 
in each square. Aside from this possible objection, 
and some possible suggestions regarding the information 
secured, the experience of the evening high schools 
seems to justify the card record system. 

The Use of the Records. The records are the 
basis of the statistical reports to the department of 
education, and according to numbers reported the super- 
intendents decide whether to continue or to disband a 
class. If the average attendance in a class falls below 
1 5 the class is disbanded and the teacher loses her posi- 
tion. The weekly reports show the numbers attending 
each class each night in the week. The annual statis- 
tical report made by each principal shows the average 
attendance in each class each week of the school year, 
total number applying for admission to the school and 
never attending, number attending certain specified 
numbers of nights, i-io, 10-20, 20-30, and so forth, 
total number on register in school year, number in each 
age group, 14-16, 16-18, 18-21, 21 and over, and the 
attendance of boys and girls aged fourteen to sixteen. 
These last figures concern the enforcement of the com- 
pulsory education law requiring all boys (not girls) 
between the ages of fourteen and sixteen to attend 
evening school if they have not graduated from ele- 
mentary school. 

Importance of Individual Records in Evening 
Schools. The importance of individual records in day 
schools is now widely discussed by school men, and uni- 
form systems are being introduced. Very little atten- 

216 



A SYSTEM OF EVENING SCHOOL RECORDS 

tion, however, seems to have been given to possible 
plans for individual records in evening schools. On the 
contrary, according to the opinion of some principals, 
the fact that the test of a teacher's success is an average 
attendance of 1 5 or more has tended to obscure the 
importance of the individual. Yet there would seem 
to be very definite reasons for keeping track of each 
pupil in night school. 

It is characteristic of night schools that their pupils 
are heterogeneous in such important conditions as age, 
nationality, previous schooling, and daily industrial 
environment. Yet no one of these factors can be 
ignored in successful night school work. School reports 
contain frequent references to the disastrous effects of 
attempting to train young boys or girls and adults in 
the same class. It is quite as difficult to meet in a 
group the needs of different nationalities. Some uni- 
formity of grading on the basis of previous schooling 
would seem obviously desirable. The last factor, the 
daily industrial environment, is one not generally con- 
sidered as demanding the teacher's attention, but it 
can not safely be ignored. In order to meet adequately 
individual needs in two hours in the evening, it would 
seem obvious that the true educator must know some- 
thing of the industrial conditions surrounding his pupil 
ten hours during the day, and this would seem to be 
true whether the pupil is studying arithmetic or whether 
he is seeking skill in industry. The relation of the 
school to industry is convincingly illustrated when over- 
time in the factory keeps a girl away from school night 
after night until she leaves in discouragement. 

From the point of view of the student the difficulties 
of attending night school after a hard day's work, an 
exhausting subway ride, and a hasty dinner are so great 
that unless the work is directly and thoughtfully 
adapted to his needs, the school will lose a pupil. This 
adaptation to individual needs must be secured in two 
ways: a careful grading of classes by consultation with 
each pupil at entrance, and as thorough a study as pos- 
sible of each pupil by the teacher. In both directions 

217 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

the card record system is an important factor. Its use 
is not limited to a convenient basis for a statistical 
report, but it should primarily be designed to arouse 
the teacher's interest in her individual pupils and to 
provide her with definite information as a basis for 
class work. 

Thus a system of records in evening school must meet 
several important requirements. 

1. It should be the basis for consultation at entrance 
as to choice of subject. 

2. It should inform the teacher at a glance, of the 
age, nationality, previous schooling, present occupation, 
hours of work, and regularity of attendance of each 
pupil. 

3. It should provide the maximum amount of infor- 
mation with the minimum amount of clerical work on 
the part of the teacher. 

4. It should adapt itself to frequent changes in the 
make-up of a class. For example, there are evening 
school classes with an average attendance of 20 and a 
total enrollment of 75 or more individuals who have 
attended one night or more in the course of the winter. 
An efficient system of records should make it possible 
to drop out the records of non-attendants, and at the 
same time be able to restore those who may return later 
in the year. 

5. It should be a convenient basis for statistical 
reports. 

6. It should be continuous, making it possible to 
watch the progress of pupils who may attend night 
school for several successive seasons. 

7. It should provide data enabling teachers, princi- 
pals and school authorities to watch results, to solve 
problems, and to plan changes. For example, we may 
name such important problems as the regularity of 
attendance compared in different classes, different 
neighborhoods, different nationalities, different ages, 
different occupations, and different months; the com- 
parative efficiency of work in the first hour and the 
second hour of the evening session; need for industrial 

218 



A SYSTEM OF EVENING SCHOOL RECORDS 

training in evening schools and desirable occupations 
in which to experiment; the relation of evening schools 
to day schools; and the relation of factory laws to 
evening schools. 



SYSTEM OF RECORDS SUGGESTED 

In suggesting a system of record cards to meet these 
requirements, we have used the following guides: 

1 . The present system of record cards in the evening 
high schools, and the method of keeping roll books in 
evening elementary schools. 

2. The uniform card record system now used in 
elementary day schools. 

3. The cards planned last autumn by the Committee 
on Women's Work as a basis for the investigation 
already described. 

The plan which we suggest, in brief, is to have two 
record cards, one to be kept on file in the principal's 
office, corresponding to the present admission book, 
and the other to be used by the teacher for records of 
attendance corresponding to the present roll books. 
The admission card would be filed alphabetically in 
the principal's office and would show the class to which 
each pupil had been assigned. The teacher's card 
might be perforated for use in a loose-leaf note book, 
thus combining the advantages of a roll book and a 
card record system. When a pupil had been dis- 
charged the teacher's card would be filed by classes 
in the principal's oifice, so that it could be at hand for 
reference by the principal at any time, and yet each 
teacher when preparing the annual statistical report 
could readily secure the records of all who had been 
in her class in the year. At the close of the year the 
teachers' cards could all be filed alphabetically in the 
admission file so that the complete record of each pupil 
could be found at the time of registration the following 
season. Obviously, the admission card and the teach- 
er's card should be uniform in size. 

219 



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222 



A SYSTEM OF EVENING SCHOOL RECORDS 

The accompanying form, No. 2, is suggested for the 
admission card. Form 3 (3a the reverse side) is the 
teacher's record. 

Comments 

I. The Size of the Card. The size of the card 
should be determined in such a way as to secure uni- 
formity, and convenient and adequate spacing of in- 
formation. The size 3 by 5 now used in the evening high 
schools is not large enough for the details contemplated 
in the plan which we have suggested, nor can a 3 by 5 
card be bound easily in a loose-leaf book, which seems 
a useful device for class room work while permitting 
afterward the permanent alphabetical filing of records. 
Nor does the 4 by 6 card used in day schools seem to be 
convenient for the sort of information needed to meet 
the needs of the changing and heterogeneous classes in 
evening schools. For these reasons we suggest the size 
of the accompanying cards, 5 by 8, as more convenient for 
the arrangement of data. (Size reduced in printing here.) 

II. The Data Secured. A comparison of the data 
now secured in evening high schools with the data con- 
tained on these suggested record forms shows that no 
new subject has been introduced but that several sub- 
jects have been expanded to provide more details. In 
order of their appearance on the admission card No. 2 
these are as follows : 

1. Years in the United States. 

This fact supplements the information now re- 
quired under the heading " Country of birth.'' 

2. Birthplace of father. 

In a population like that in New York City, the 
national traits of pupils can not be taken into 
account as they should be unless the birthplace 
of the father be recorded. For example, the child 
of an Italian and the child of a Russian might 
both be recorded as native born, but the record 
would not be adequate in meeting their needs in 
evening school. 

223 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

3. (a) What is the business of the firm for which you 

now work? (b) What work do you do for this 
firm? 

These supplement the record of occupation. 
Numerous instances might be cited to show the 
need for both questions. For example, a girl may 
give her occupation as "sewing." Unless "the 
business of the firm'* is known, it is an open ques- 
tion whether she is in the neckwear trade, the 
millinery trade, the dressmaking trade, or employed 
in making sheets and pillow cases. Yet the sea- 
sons, the demands on the worker, and other indus- 
trial conditions vary in these diflFerent industries. 

If, on the other hand, merely the business of the 
firm be recorded with no explanation of the work 
done by the girl or boy, the teacher can not know 
what the pupil's real occupation may be. For 
example, the employes of a shirtwaist manufac- 
turer may be telephone operators, stenographers, 
bookkeepers, machine operators, errand girls, and 
a maid in the dressing room. 

Furthermore, details are necessary here to pre- 
vent vague, general grouping. For example, a 
comparison of our records, in which the girls an- 
swered these two questions, with the teacher's 
records in which the card provided space for "oc- 
cupation" only showed that the term "factory 
worker" was used to cover such different processes 
as "human hair work," "trimming of babies' caps," 
"willowing on ostrich feathers," and "operating 
on shirtwaists." The teacher knew all these 
pupils only as "factory workers." 

4. Questions regarding the hours of work and the 

months of overtime. 

It is not likely that problems of evening schools, 
and, back of them, fundamental problems of the 
education of workers, will ever be solved until 
efforts are made to adjust schools to industries and 
industries to schools. Information secured by 
means of evening school records showing the hours 

224 



A SYSTEM OF EVENING SCHOOL RECORDS 

of work in different occupations, and the season 
of overtime, would be one step in the direction of 
defining these problems of adjustment. Nor is 
such information remote from the immediate task 
of an evening school teacher. For example, here 
are the factors in a very common problem: a shirt- 
waist maker enrolled in an evening school in East 
io6th Street; home address, Third Avenue near 
I20th Street; business address, Bleecker Street; 
closing hour, 6 p.m.; months of overtime, January 
and February; probable result, irregular attend- 
ance in November and December when the cold 
weather begins and the short time between leaving 
the factory and beginning evening school seems 
shorter as the cold increases the fatigue of the 
journey. Then comes overtime in January and 
after losing so many evenings the girl is too dis- 
couraged to return to school in the spring. Knowl- 
edge of these facts in advance might have enabled 
the teacher through consultation with the pupil 
to give some individual help to counteract the 
discouragement of irregularity. When overtime 
work began, the labor department could have 
been notified, to prevent the lengthening of the 
working week beyond the legal limit. Especially 
ought such a procedure to be followed in the case 
of children under sixteen who can not legally be 
permitted to work in or in connection with a fac- 
tory after 5 p.m. nor more than eight hours a day. 
Publication of information about the hours of 
work of women and children who attend evening 
schools would arouse public opinion, and tend 
gradually to shorten the hours of work and to 
strengthen the enforcement of labor laws. Until 
such action can be taken, the work of public even- 
ing schools will continue to be balked by the indus- 
trial conditions which their pupils encounter daily. 
Instead of such antagonism, the schools and the 
industries in an efficient community ought to co- 
operate in developing the intelligence and the 

225 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

Strength of the workers. Unless the schools take 
steps to understand more thoroughly the industrial 
environment of their pupils, the day of such an 
ideal adjustment will be postponed indefinitely. 
5. Questions regarding schools attended. 

In the cards now used in evening high schools 
only four questions are asked regarding schooling: 
Last school attended? Year of leaving? Was this 
a day or an evening school? and, Did you graduate? 
It is not difficult to discover cases in which these 
questions would be blind alleys, not giving any 
clues to the child's school history. For example, 
suppose the last school were an evening school 
attended the preceding winter, or a business school 
attended five years ago. Results of the investiga- 
tion made by the Committee on Women's Work 
show that English-speaking girls in evening schools 
this winter have attended a great variety of schools 
in a great variety of combinations. Schools of 
many foreign countries are represented. Schools 
in various sections of the United States, various 
types of schools, public, parochial, or private in 
New York City, and many business schools, trade 
or technical schools, and public evening schools 
appear on the cards of girls enrolled in the same 
class. To school authorities it is obvious without 
argument that an efficient evening school teacher 
will build on the previous school training of her 
pupils. But in ninety evenings, or one hundred and 
twenty evenings of the school term, she can not 
take the time to investigate her class unless it be 
part of her regular record work. 

III. The Use of the Cards. The admission card 
has been designed to be filled by the pupil at entrance. 
Incidentally the filling of it would serve as a preliminary 
examination of the pupil's intelligence. The teacher's 
card is designed so that the information can readily be 
drawn from the admission card. Subjects and arrange- 
ment are almost identical, although more questions are 

226 



A SYSTEM OF EVENING SCHOOL RECORDS 

asked on the admission card, while the teacher's card 
summarizes the important facts. The attendance rec- 
ord on the back of the teacher's card would seem less 
confusing than the present arrangement on the even- 
ing high school card, providing spaces to indicate groups 
of 10 evenings. It would seem also to provide a con- 
venient basis for weekly and monthly reports, since the 
number of evenings attended each month can be totaled 
so easily. 

So far as we have discovered, no system of evening 
school records has been worked out in any city with 
special reference to evening school needs and problems. 
The New York evening high schools have taken the 
lead. The department of education in New York 
may well be a pioneer now in planning a system to be 
used also in the evening elementary schools looking 
toward both economy of time in record keeping, and 
encouragement of a more thorough study of individual 
pupils. 

Respectfully submitted. 

The Committee on Women's Work of the Russell 
Sage Foundation. 

May 27, 1911. 



227 



APPENDIX III 

INVESTIGATION OF EVENING SCHOOL 
PUPILS IN PHILADELPHIA 

IN the winter of 191 2-1 3 the Public Education Asso- 
ciation of Philadelphia made an investigation of 
pupils in evening schools of that city, distributing 
card records based in part upon the form used in the 
New York investigation described in this book. The 
Philadelphia study is not yet in print, nor have the 
results been fully interpreted, but certain salient facts 
may be noted. These have been secured from the 
manuscript of the report, courteously loaned us by the 
association. In Philadelphia 7,000 records were filled 
out, of which 6,410 were complete enough for tabula- 
tion. Of the number studied, 3,402 were in the ele- 
mentary evening schools, 2,458 were evening high 
school students, and the remaining 550 were enrolled 
in the two evening trade schools. 

Unlike the investigation in New York, the study in 
Philadelphia included both boys and girls, and the 
classes in English for foreigners were not omitted. 
Because of these differences in the scope of the in- 
quiry and because the record cards are not identical, 
it is not wise to attempt detailed comparison of con- 
ditions in New York and Philadelphia. The important 
conclusions of the Philadelphia study may, however, 
be summarized as follows, stressing especially the facts 
secured regarding girls in the schools: 

(i) Of the 6,410 investigated, about two-thirds, or 
4,348, were boys, and one-third, or 2,062, were girls. 
In the evening high schools over 77 per cent, 1,906 of 
2,458, were boys, showing apparently that the girls 

228 



EVENING SCHOOL PUPILS IN PHILADELPHIA 

were not taking advantage of the advanced courses. 
In the elementary schools the sexes were more equally 
represented, but of the 1,510 girls in these schools, 63 
per cent, or 946, were foreigners, most of whom were 
enrolled in the courses in English. On the basis of 
these facts, the Philadelphia investigators conclude 
that, however adequately or inadequately Philadel- 
phia is meeting the need of providing further training 
for her boys who must go to work at an early age, the 
aspect of the problem as it affects girls is still almost 
untouched, 

(2) A study of the nationality of pupils showed that, 
as in New York, foreigners are eager to take advantage 
of evening school courses. About two-fifths, or 2,733 
of 6,410 pupils in all the evening schools, were for- 
eigners, and more than half of these foreign-born 
students, 1,594, were Russians. A comparison of 
nativity in evening schools with the nativity of the 
Philadelphia population showed a far larger percentage 
of Russians in the schools than their importance in 
the population would justify; while it was found that 
Germans, English, and Irish do not attend the schools 
in numbers proportionate to their representation in 
the population. 

(3) Young people predominate in the classes in the 
Philadelphia evening schools; 68 per cent, or 4,335 of the 
6,337 reporting their ages, were under twenty years of 
age; 1,138, or 18 per cent, were under sixteen. In the 
year of the investigation, 13,740 children between 
fourteen and sixteen secured work certificates in Phil- 
adelphia; yet only 8.3 per cent (1,138) of these children 
were found in the evening schools so far as the records 
of the investigation showed. On the basis of these 
facts the investigators conclude that the evening 
schools do not in any sense serve as continuation 
schools for the fourteen- to sixteen-year-old worker; 
that it is doubtful whether any attempt should be made 
to secure the attendance of these children during night 
hours after a day*s work; and that there is a crying need 
for some form of education established by law which 

229 



WORKING GIRLS IN EVENING SCHOOLS 

shall furnish the necessary continuation training for 
this group. It is very significant that of the 1,138 
under sixteen, 113, or 10 per cent, were not employed, 
although they had left day school under the provisions 
of the law permitting fourteen- and fifteen-year-old 
children to go to work. It was never the intent of 
this law to let these children drop out of school and 
substitute night courses for day courses, or remain out 
of school altogether, if they were not employed by day. 

(4) Only 14 per cent, or 876 of 6,190 reporting on 
this point, had ever received any day schooling after 
their sixteenth birthday, while 65 per cent, or 4,052, 
had left school at the age of fourteen or earlier, and 4 
per cent, or 227, had never attended any school. 
These figures included the foreign born, whose oppor- 
tunities in their home countries had been very limited. 

(5) As in New York, distinct differences with refer- 
ence to schooling were discovered in the different occu- 
pational groups. Pupils in domestic service and the 
small group in agriculture, as a rule, left school at the 
earliest age, with manufacturing next, while those 
employed in trade and transportation and in profes- 
sional pursuits had a longer period of schooling. 

(6) Unhke the study in New York, the Philadelphia 
investigation included information about wages. The 
question asked was: " How much do you make a week?" 
The result showed that of the total number of 5,510 
reporting on this question, 3,000, or 54 per cent, were 
receiving less than $8.00 a week. 

Of the 1,632 girls and women in the group, report- 
ing wages, 1,085, or 66 per cent, were receiving less 
than J8.00, while of the 3,878 men and boys, 1,915, 
or 49 per cent, were in the group earning less than 
$8.00. Only 84, or 1.5 per cent, of the entire group 
were earning $20 or more, and these were all men. 
Only 10 girls reported a wage of J 16 or over, and none 
of these received as much as $20. 

(7) Among the Philadelphia evening school pupils a 
great variety of occupations are represented, including, 
of course, the trades most important in Philadelphia 

230 



EVENING SCHOOL PUPILS IN PHILADELPHIA 

— the textile industry, metal work, the dressmaking 
and clothing trades, weaving of cloth, the making and 
trimming of hats, and the manufacture of hosiery 
and knit goods. For the most part, however, these even- 
ing school pupils are not receiving any instruction in 
the evening which is related to their daily work, and 
only 31 per cent are taking any of the vocational 
courses offered. The investigators conclude that the 
evening school courses are not adapted to the needs of 
the workers; that they should be reorganized along the 
lines of the industries which have the largest develop- 
ment in Philadelphia; that they should offer courses of 
more definite practical use in these industries; and that 
they should be made to serve the purposes of vocational 
schools for the older workers. 



231 



INDEX 



INDEX 



A Plea for Vocational Train- 
ing, by Mary Flexner, 106 

Academic Classes: percentage 
of girls studied in, 30 

Accident Prevention Meas- 
ures: indicative of progress 
in industrial welfare work, 

59 

Adams, Jessie B., 106 

Admission: age of, to evening 
school, 80, 8 1 , 166, 167, 175; 
of non-wage-earning girls 
under sixteen, 1 12, 1 13. See 
also Entrance requirements 

Age: at which previous schooling 
ceased, 100, 102-105; factor 
in determining needs of even- 
ing school pupils, 12; of ad- 
mission to evening school, 
80, 81, 166, 167, 175 

Ages of Evening School Stu- 
dents, 28, 29; employed 
as bookbinders, 199, 202, 
205, as clerks and office 
workers, 199, 202, 205, as 
dressmakers and seam- 
stresses, 199, 202, 205, as 
paper-box makers, 199, 202, 
205, as stenographers and 
bookkeepers, 199, 202, 205, 
as workers on hair goods, 1 99, 
in artificial flower and feath- 
er industry, 199, 202, 205, 
in button making, 199, in 
confectionery, groceries, 
bakery products, and to- 
bacco industry, 199, in do- 
mestic and personal service, 
199, in fur, leather, rubber, 
and hair goods industry, 
202, in manufacturing and 



mechanical industry, 199, 
202, 205, in men's clothing 
industry, 199, in millinery 
industry, 199, in miscella- 
neous needlework, 199, in 
professional service, 199, in 
shirtwaist making, 199, 202, 
205, in stores, 199, 202, 205, 
in teaching, 199, in textile 
industry, 199, in trade and 
transportation industry, 
199, 202, 205, in white goods 
trade, 199, 202, 205; who are 
non-wage-earners, 199 

Agriculture : number of women 
employed in, in New York, 
41. See also Mining and 
Agriculture 

Aims: definite, of evening school 
pupils, 29, 30, requisite for 
industrial education, 141; 
needs, desires, and aspira- 
tions of pupils in evening 
schools, 10, II 

Art Classes: percentage of girls 
studied in, 30 

Artificial Flower and Feath- 
er Industry: average week- 
ly earnings in, 97; hours of 
work in, 63, 72, 73, 77, 198, 
204, 207; rank of, as occupa- 
tion, according to number of 
women employed and num- 
ber of workers attending 
public evening school, 54, 
55, 56; women evening 
school pupils employed in, 
ages of, 199, 202, 205, ages 
of, at leaving day school, 
105, 200, 204, 206, day 
school last attended by, 203, 



335 



INDEX 



206, grade at which, left day 
school, 95, 96, 208, 209, 
nativity of, 203, 205, nativ- 
ity of fathers of, 202, 205, 
number of, 49, 194 

Artificial Flower Makers, 
by Mary Van Kleeck, i 

Attendance, 156, 157; difficul- 
ties encountered in securing, 
records of girls included in 
this investigation, 149, 150, 
151; effect on, of Italian 
custom of keeping unmar- 
ried daughters at home in 
evening, 16; encouraged in 
Manhattan Trade School 
for Girls by definite short- 
period courses, 120, by lim- 
iting classes to two nights a 
week, 120, by serving sup- 
per at cost, 120; in evening 
schools voluntary except for 
illiterate boys, 10; irregular, 
63, 82, 142, 168; months in 
which women dropped out 
of evening school by occu- 
pation, 210, 211, 212; most 
regular in summer classes in 
English for foreigners, 147; 
percentage of, according to 
age, sex, subjects studied, and 
occupational group, 147, 
162; percentage of, method 
of computing, 146, 147, 160, 
161, 162; school records of, 
inaccurate, 150; schools in- 
cluded in study of, 151, 153. 
See also Schools 

Austria-Hungary, 20, 21, 22 

Average Attendance: use of 
term, 5 

Ayres, Leonard P., 84 

Barrows, Alice P., 9, 107 
Birthplaces. See Nativity 
Blacksmithing: taught in even- 
ing trade schools, 14 
Board of Education: given 
legal power to compel chil- 
dren to attend part-time day 



continuation classes, 74, 166, 
180; president of, 179, 180 

Bohemians, 12, 21, 22 

Bookbinders: average weekly 
earnings of, 97; hours of 
work of, 204, 207; scope of 
supplementary schooling for, 
138, 139; women evening 
school pupils employed as, 
ages of, 199, 202, 205, ages 
of at leaving day school, 204, 
206, day school last attend- 
ed by, 203, 206, grade at 
which, left day school, 95, 
96, 208, 209, nativity of, 
203, 205, nativity of fathers 
of, 202, 205 

Bookbinding: rank of, as occu- 
pation, according to number 
of women employed and 
number of workers attend- 
ing public evening school, 
54. 55» 56 

Bookbinding Classes: percen- 
tage of girls studied in, 30 

Book Illustration: taught in 
school of industrial art, 14 

Bookkeepers. See Stenogra- 
phers and Bookkeepers; Trade 
and Transportation 

Bookkeeping: taught in evening 
elementary schools, 14; in 
evening high school, 13 

Brief on Behalf of Respond- 
ents: Stettler vs. Industrial 
Welfare Commission of the 
State of Oregon, 182 

Bronx: non-wage-earning wom- 
en attending evening school 

in. 37 

Brooklyn: non-wage-earning 
women attending evening 
school in, 37 

Butler, Elizabeth B., 43, 44, 
45 

Button - making Industry: 
Women evening school pu- 
pils employed in, ages of, 
199, ages of at leaving day 



236 



INDEX 



school, 105, grade, left day 
school, 208, 209 
Buyers and Shoppers: attend- 
ing public evening school, 5 1 

Cabinet Making: taught in 
evening trade schools, 14 

Canadians, 20 

Carpentry and Joinery: taught 
in evening trade schools, 14 

Cases Cited: ambitious parents 
sending girls to evening 
school, 26, 27, 28; ambitious 
wage-earners attending even- 
ing school, 23, 24, 123; girls 
looking to betterment of 
position by courses in Man- 
hattan Trade School for 
Girls, 123, 124, 125; Italian 
girl in dressmaking class, 26; 
Italian girls kept at home 
because of national custom, 
25, 26; showing hours of 
work of certain evening 
school pupils in manufac- 
turing pursuits, 62, 63, 64, 
65; showing lack of proper 
tools in dressmaking class, 
127, 128; showing problems 
presented to educators by 
certain types of evening 
pupils, II, 12; showing rea- 
sons for irregular attend- 
ance, 142, 143; leaving day 
school, 110, hi; showing 
types of monotonous work, 
172, 173, 174 

Cashiers: attending public even- 
ing school, 5 1 . See also Em- 
ployes in Stores 

Changes in Women's Work. 
See Women's fVork, Changes 
in 

Charting Childhood in Cin- 
cinnati, by Helen T. 
Wooley, 107 

Child Labor: a reproach to com- 
munity and industry, 175; 
effect of, on future wage- 
earners, 175; employment of. 



discouraged, 182; indicative 
of inadequate standard of 
living, 17$, 176; raising 
grade at which children may 
leave day school reduced, 
177 

Children: hazardous position of, 
leaving school for work, 
between fourteen and sixteen 
years of age, 105, 106. See 
also Hours of fVork 

Cigar-making Industry: reason 
for disproportion between 
women employed in, and 
women of that trade attend- 
ing evening school, 56 

Clerks and Office Workers: 
hours of work of, 74, 75, 76, 
204, 207; women evening 
school pupils employed as, 
51, 104, 105, 199, 202, 203, 
204, 205, 206, 209. See also 
Trade and Transportation 

Collectors, Agents, etc.; at- 
tending public evening 
schools, 51 

Commercial Classes: percent- 
age of girls studied in, 30 

Commercial Courses: taught in 
evening high school, 13 

Commercial Law: taught in 
evening high school, 13 

Committee on Women's Work 
OF THE Russell Sage 
Foundation: memorandum 
of, regarding a system of 
evening school records, 213- 
228 

Common Branches: ilHterate 
boys and girls placed in 
classes for, 13; taught in 
evening elementary schools, 

14 

Community: child labor a re- 
proach to, 175; responsibility 
of, for bonus of work, 62, 
78, 82 

Compulsory Education: at- 
tendance of evening school 
under, law cruel to boys under 



237 



INDEX 



sixteen, i66; for illiterate 
boys, lo, 13, 73, 74; illiterate 
girls not included in, law, 80; 
law giving boards of educa- 
tion power to compel wage- 
earning children to attend 
part-time day continuation 
classes, 74, 166, 180, a for- 
ward step, 81 ; notice of, law 
sent to parents, 80; raising 
grade at which children may 
leave school, 9 1 , 92 , effect of, 
177; school principals and 
teachers advocate extend- 
ing, law to include illiterate 
girls, 74 

Confectionery, Groceries, 
Bakery Products and To- 
bacco Industries: hours of 
work in, 198; rank of, as 
occupation according to 
number of women employed 
and number of workers at- 
tending public evening 
school, 54, 55, 56; women 
evening school pupils em- 
ployed in, 49, 103, 104, 105, 
194, 199, 200, 208, 209 

Continuation Day Schools: 
advocated, 3, 179, 180; by 
president of board of educa- 
tion, 179, 180; compulsory, 
recommended, 166; law of 
191 3 giving boards of educa- 
tion power to compel chil- 
dren to attend part-time, 74, 
166, 180, a forward step, 81 ; 
not established in New York, 

Cooking: taught m evenmg ele- 
mentary schools, 14 

Copyholders. See Proofreaders 
and Copyholders 

Costume Designing: taught in 
evening trade schools, and 
in school of industrial art, 14 

Courses: advanced, sometimes 
taught in elementary schools 
when no high school is open 
in neighborhood, 14, 15; in 



day elementary schools, 92; 
in evening elementary 
schools, high schools, and 
trade schools, 13, 14; in 
Manhattan Trade School for 
Girls, 118, 119, 120, 122, 
126, 127, 129, 132; in Mas- 
sachusetts evening industrial 
classes limited to those pur- 
suing occupation by day, 
116, 1 17; in New York even- 
ing industrial classes not 
limited to those pursuing 
occupation by day, 117, 118; 
in New York evening school 
of industrial art, 14; offered, 
13-15 

Decoration: taught in school 
of industrial art, 14 

Department of Commerce and 
Labor: investigation of 
women's work by, 45, 46; 
occupations classified ac- 
cording to grouping adopted 
by, 47, 48 

Designing: taught in school of 
industrial art, 14 

Domestic and Personal Ser- 
vice: months in which 
women employed in, dropped 
out of evening school, 210, 
21 1, 212; number of women 
employed in, in New York, 
41; occupations grouped 
under, 42; outline of, 52; 
percentage of wage-earning 
women in New York em- 
ployed in, 52, 53, 54; small 
proportion of wage-earning 
women in, attending even- 
ing school, 51, 52; women 
evening school pupils em- 
ployed in, 29, 35, 46, 86, 89, 
90, 93, 94, 98, 99, 100, loi, 
102, 177, 199,201 

Domestic Arts and Sciences: 
taught in evening high 
school, 14 

Drawing: taught in evening 



238 



INDEX 



elementary schools, 14, in 
school of industrial art, 14 

Dressmakers and Seam- 
stresses: hours of work of, 
204, 207; women evening 
school pupils employed as, 
95, 96, 105, 199, 202, 203, 
204, 205, 206, 208, 209 

Dressmaking: courses in Man- 
hattan Evening Trade 
School, 120, 126, 127, 132; 
in public evening school not 
planned to oe vocational, 
127; description of subdivi- 
sion of processes tending to 
limit promotion in, trade, 
121, 1 22 ; lack of proper tools 
in, class, 127, 128; taught in 
evening elementary schools, 
14, evening trade schools, 14 

Dressmaking and Sewing In- 
dustry: rank of, as occupa- 
tion, according to number of 
women employed and num- 
ber of workers attending 
public evening school, 54, 
55. 56 

Earnings, Average Weekly: 
in artificial flower andfeather 
industry, 97; in manufactur- 
ing and mechanical pur- 
suits, 97; in millinery in- 
dustry, 97; in women's 
clothing industry, 97; of 
bookbinders, 97; of paper- 
box makers, 97. See also 
IVages 

East Side: non-wage-earning 
women attending evening 
school on lower, 37 

Education. See Compulsory 
Education 

Egyptians, 16 

Electrical Engineering and 
Installation: taught in 
evening trade schools, 14 

Elementary Evening School. 
See School, Evening Elemen- 
tary 



Elocution Classes: percentage 
of girls studied in, 30 

Embroidery and Lace Mak- 
ers: grade at which, attend- 
ing evening school left day 
school, 95, 96, 208, 209 

Embroidery and Lace Mak- 
ing: rank of, as occupation 
according to number of 
women employed and num- 
ber of workers attending 
public evening school, 54, 
55. 56 

Employes in Stores: hours of 
work of, 63, 68, 69, 75, 174, 
204, 207; women evening 
high school pupils working 
as, 51, 104, 105, 199, 202, 
203, 204, 205, 206, 209 

English, 18, 21, 22; classes for 
foreigners, 19; classes, per- 
centage of girls studied in, 
30; speaking pupils, investi- 
gation primarily concerned 
with, 19, 20; summer classes 
in, for foreigners, 1 1 , most 
regular attendance in, 147 

Enrollment, 2, 5; use of word, 
5 

Entrance Requirements: and 
courses oflfered, 13-15; ele- 
mentary evening schools, 1 3 : 
evening classes of Manhat- 
tan Trade School for Girls, 
118, 119, 129, 132; evening 
high school, 13; lax, re- 
sponsible for irregular at- 
tandance in 1865, 143. See 
also Admission 

Equipment: adequate, requisite 
for industrial education, 
141 

Evening Schools and the 
Girls who Attend Them, 
10-37. See also Schools, 
Evening 

Experiment Station: evening 
school as an, in industrial 
education, 2, 3 



239 



INDEX 



Factory Work. See Manufac- 
faduring and Mechanical 
Pursuits 

Fatigue: cause of irregular at- 
tendance at evening school, 
142; social consequences of, 
61 

Fatigue and Efficiency, by 
Josephine Goldmark, 61 

Flexner, Mary B., 106 

Foreign-born Pupils: advance- 
ment of, in evening school, 
21; English classes for, 19; 
inspiration afforded teacher 
by earnest, 23; kind of in- 
struction needed for, 37; 
material found in, 37; school- 
ing of, in native land, 21 

French, 20 

Fur, Leather, Rubber and 
Hair Goods Industry: 
hours of work in, 198; 
women evening school pupils 
employed in, 49, 195, 200, 
202, 208, 209 

Gas Engine Construction: 
taught in evening trade 
schools, 14 
Germans, 20, 21, 22, 87 
Girls: occupations of, attending 
evening school, 35, 38-60; 
percentage of, studied in 
different classes, 30. See 
also IVomen 
Goldmark, Josephine, 61 
Grade: legal, at which children 
over fourteen years old may 
leave school, 91, 92, course 
of study in, 92, 93; legisla- 
tive amendment in 19 13 
raising, at which children 
may leave day school, 91, 
92, reduced number of work 
certificates issued, 177; 
seventh, "mortality," 105, 
106 
Grades Reached in Day 
Schools, 93, 94, 96, 208, 
209; as affecting employ- 



ment in skilled occupations 
and wages, 95, 97, 177, 178, 
179; by women evening 
school pupils in different 
occupational groups, 93, 94, 
95> I77> '78- See also School, 
Day; Schooling, Previous 
Greeks, 16, 20 

Haaren, Dr. John H., 8, 149, 
213 

High Schools. See Schools, 
Evening High 

Homes: visits made to, in secur- 
ing data for investigation, 8 

Hours of Work: argument 
against legislative control 
of, 61; as reported in this 
article not included in 
official reports, 69; attempt 
to strengthen law regulating, 
opposed by employers, 82; 
cases cited showing, of cer- 
tain evening school pupils, 
62, 63, 64, 65; daily, 61-82; 
eight, or less, 68, 69, 72, 174; 
extended by homework, 63; 
in artificial flower and 
feather industry, 63, 72, 73, 
77, 198, 204, 207; in confec- 
tionery, groceries, bakery 
products, and tobacco in- 
dustries, 198; in domestic 
and personal service and in 
professions not tabulated, 
66; in fur, leather, rubber, 
and hair goods industry, 
198; in manufacturing and 
mechanical pursuits, 64, 66- 

73. 77. J 74, 175. 198, 204, 
207; in men's clothing in- 
dustry, 71, 198; in millinery 
industry, 64, 71, 73, 77, 198, 
204, 207; in miscellaneous 
needlework trades, 198; in 
other industries, 77, 198; in 
printing and paper goods 
industry, 77, 198; in shirt- 
waist making trade, 204, 
207; in textiles industry, 71, 



240 



INDEX 



77, 198; in trade and trans- 
portation pursuits, 64, 65, 
67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 
174, 175, 204, 207; in white 
goods trade, 204, 207; in 
women's clothing industry, 

71, 77, 198; law limiting, in 
factories, 66, 67, 76; law 
limiting, in stores, 67, 76; 
legal, in day and week, 66, 
67; legislation reducing, 61, 
66, 67, 76, 182; long, 62, 63, 

72, 82, 174, 175; of book- 
binders, 204, 207; of children 
under 16 years old, 73, 174, 
175; of clerks and office 
workers, 74, 75, 76, 204, 
207; of dressmakers and 
seamstresses, 204, 207; of 
employes in stores, 63, 68, 
69, 75, 174, 204, 207; of mil- 
liners and artificial flower 
and feather workers com- 
pared, 72, 73; of paper-box 
makers, 62, 204, 207; of 
stenographers and book- 
keepers, 74, 75» 76, 204, 207; 
overtime lengthening nor- 
mal, 81, 82; overtime not 
shown in statement of, on 
card reports on which in- 
vestigation is based, 65, 66; 
responsibility of community 
for, 62, 78, 82; social con- 
sequences of long, overwork 
and fatigue, 61; speed and 
monotony increase ill efi'ect 
of long, 61, 62; strikes to 
shorten, 61; time of begin- 
ning and leaving, 62, 63, 64, 
65, 67, 69, 70, 71, 76, 174; 
time spent in transit and 
evening school added to, 63, 
64, 65; time spent in transit 
sometimes overbalances 
shorter, 72; varied schedules 
of, in difi'erent divisions of 
main pursuits, 71, 72; viola- 
tions of law regulating, as 
disclosed by cards and by 



personal investigation, 74- 
79, not prosecuted, 82 
Hungarians, 12, 122 

Illiterate: boys and girls placed 
in classes for common 
branches, 13; boys, compul- 
sory education for, 10, 
J3» 73» 74' child wage-earn- 
ers, legislation providing for 
day continuation classes for, 
a forward step, 81; girls not 
included in compulsory edu- 
cation law, 80; girls, school 
principals and teachers ad- 
vocate extending compul- 
sory education law to in- 
clude, 74 

Industrial Art, New York 
Evening School of: 
courses in, 14; opened in . 
1913, 14 

Industrial Conditions: affect- 
ing problems of evening 
schools, 214, 218; improve- 
ment of, 59 

Industrial Education: advo- 
cated in 1858, 39, 40; condi- 
tions affecting scheme for, 
revealed by facts concern- 
ing previous schooling, 84; 
dependent on improvement 
in working conditions and 
development of industrial 
methods, 172, 182, 183; de- 
pendent on understanding of 
industrial conditions, 34, 35; 
diversity of experiment in, 
desirable, 140; effect of labor 
legislation on plans for, 182; 
evening classes of Manhat- 
tan Trade School for Girls 
making valuable experi- 
ments in, 180; evening 
schools as experiment sta- 
tions in, 2, 3; minimizing 
effect on individual of mo- 
notonous and unskilled tasks, 
problems of, 58, 140; more 
than school efficiency in- 



241 



INDEX 



volved in plans for, 182; need 
for, 39, 40; problems in, 37, 
57. 58» 59. i35-<4o; 160- 
183; requisites for, 141. 
See also Continuation Day 
Schools; Manhattan Trade 
School for Girls ; Schools, 
Evening; Vocational Training 

Industrial Standards: move- 
ments in progress for raising, 
through legislation, 182 

Industrial Welfare Work: 
accident prevention meas- 
ures indicative of progress 
in, 59 

Industries. See Occupations 

Industry: child labor a reproach 
to, 175 

Instruction: standardization 
in, lacking, 1 1 
• Investigation: aim of present, 
214; appreciation of co- 
operation during, 8, 9; dis- 
tricts covered by, 6; method 
of, 3, 4; per cent of record 
cards used in tabulation of, 
as compared with total 
register and average attend- 
ance, 6; present, a basis for 
further studies, 2, scope of, 
I, subject of, 9; primarily 
concerned with English- 
speaking pupils, 19, 20; visits 
made to homes, and to 
schools in securing data for, 
8 

Irish, 18, 21, 22, 27 

Italian: effect on evening school 
attendance of, custom of 
keeping unmarried daugh- 
ters at home in evening, 16, 

25, 26 

Italians, 12, 16, 21, 22, 23, 25, 

26, 124, 128 

Jewelry Designing: taught in 
school of industrial art, 14 

Jews, 18, 20, 23; desire of, for 
scholarship and economic 
advancement, 18 



Languages: taught in evening 
high school, 13 

Law, Commercial: taught in 
evening high school, 13 

Legislation: bringing law regu- 
lating hours of work in stores 
into conformity with factory 
law, 67, 76; effect of labor, 
on plans for industrial edu- 
cation, 182; giving boards 
of education power to com- 
pel children lo attend part- 
time day continuation 
classes, 74, 81, 166, 180; 
limiting hours of work in 
factories, 66,67, 76, in stores, 
67, 76; minimum wage, 
passed by nine states, 182; 
movements for raising in- 
dustrial standards through, 
182; raising grade at which 
children may leave day 
school, 91, 92, effect of, 177; 
reducing hours of work, 61, 
66, 67, 76, 182; to strengthen 
law regulating hours of 
work opposed by employers, 
82 

Legislative Control: argu- 
ment against, of hours of 
work, 61 

Life and Labor, published by 
National Women's Trade 
Union League, 171 

Lithuanians, 20 

Location of Evening Schools: 
determined by character of 
population, 15-18 

Long Island City Trade 
School, 6 

Making of Women's Neck- 
wear: rank of, as occupa- 
tion, according to number of 
women employed and num- 
ber of workers attending 
public evening school, 54, 
55.56 



242 



INDEX 



Manhattan: non-wage-earning 
women attending evening 
schools in, 37 

Manhattan Trade School for 
Girls, 8; attendance in, en- 
couraged by definite short- 
period courses, 120; became 
part of New York public 
school system in 1910, 118; 
courses offered in, 118-122, 
126, 127, 129, 132; day 
classes, industrial training 
in, differs from that in 
evening classes, 180; day 
classes started by private 
enterprise, 118; equipment 
for day classes determined 
evening courses in, 118, 119; 
evening classes, 1 18-120, 
122-127, 129, 132, 135, 180, 
ages of wage-earners at- 
tending, significant of need 
of training not obtained in 
shops, 132, 133, courses 
planned for special needs, 
120, 121, 122, 127, 132, 
success of, indicates possible 
function of public evening 
school in vocational train- 
ing, 135; wages of girls at- 
tending, above the average, 

133, 134 
Manhattan VocationalSchool 

FOR Boys: day classes, in- 
dustrial training in, differs 
from that in evening classes, 
180 

Manual Classes: percentage of 
girls studied in, 30 

Manufacturing and Mechani- 
cal Pursuits: average 
weekly earnings in, 97; 
explanation of occupational 
group, 36; hours of work in, 
64, 66-73, 77» '74. 175. 198, 
204, 207; length of noon re- 
cess in, 62, 63, 64, 197; 
months in which women em- 
ployed in, dropped out of 
evening school, 210, 211, 



212; number of women em- 
ployed in, in New York, 40; 
occupations grouped under, 
41, 48, 49, 50; percentage of 
wage-earning women in New 
York employed in, 52, 53, 
54, 60; women evening 
school pupils employed in, 
29» 35. 46, 49. 86, 90, 93, 
94, 98, 105, 177, 178, 194- 
196, 199-206, 208, 209, pro- 
portion of married or 
widowed, 29 

Married Pupils: proportion of 
wage-earning and non-wage- 
earning, in different occu- 
pational groups, 29 

Massachusetts: financial state 
aid to evening industrial 
schools in, 116; instruction 
in principles of daily occupa- 
tion, aim of evening indus- 
trial courses in, 116, 117 

Massachusetts Independent 
Evening Industrial 
Schools, by C. A. Prosser, 
16 

Meigs, Elizabeth L., 9 

Men's Clothing Industry: 
hours of work in, 71, 198; 
women evening school pupils 
employed in, 49, 103, 105, 
194, 199, 200, 208, 209 

Messengers. See Employes in 
Stores 

Metal Working: rank of, as 
occupation, according to 
number of women employed 
and number of workers at- 
tending public evening 
school, 54, 55, 56 

Millinery: taught in evening 
elementary and trade 
schools, 14 

Millinery Industry: average 
weekly earnings in, 97; 
hours of work in, 64, 71, 73, 
77, 198, 204, 207; rank of, as 
occupation, according to 
number of women employed 



243 



INDEX 



and number of workers at- 
tending public evening 
school, 54, 55, 56; women 
evening school pupils em- 
ployed in, 49, 95, 96, 195, 

199, 200, 202-206, 208, 209 
Mining and Agriculture: oc- 
cupations grouped under, 41 

Miscellaneous Needlework 
Trades: hours of work in, 
198; women evening school 
pupils employed in, 195, 199, 

200, 208, 209 
Monotony: increasing ill effect 

of long hours, 61, 62; mini- 
mizing effect of, a problem 
of industrial education, 58, 
140; of women's work, 170- 
174; cases cited showing 
types of, 172, 173, 174 
Motives. See Reasons 

National Groupings: in differ- 
ent schools, 37 

National Society for the 
Promotion of Industrial 
Education: Bulletin No. 
13, Part Time and Evening 
Schools, 116 

National Women's Trade 
Union League, 171 

Nationalities in the Schools, 
15-28 

Nationality: factor in de- 
termining needs of evening 
school pupils, 12 

Nativity: of fathers of women 
attending public evening 
schools, 22, 23, 202, 205; 
of women attending public 
schools, 21, 85, 203, 205. 
See also Racial Make-up 

Negroes, 19 

New York: per cent of women 
wage-earners in, 59, 60, 
working in factories, 60; 
vocational classes in, evening 
schools not generally limited 
to those pursuing occupa- 
tion by day, 117, 118 



New York Board of Educa- 
tion: annual report, 1858, 
39, 40; annual report, 1865, 
80; report of the president, 
179 

New York Evening School of 
Industrial Art: courses in, 
14; opened in 1913, 14 

New York State Department 
of Labor: annual report on 
factory inspection, 48, 57 

New York Superintendent of 
Schools Annual Reports. 
Evening Schools: 191 i, 
145; 1912,81, 107, 167; 1913, 
82, 145, 149, 167 

No Gainful Occupation. See 
Wage-earning fVomen, Non- 

NooN Recess: length of, in 
manufacturing and mechani- 
cal pursuits, 62, 63, 64, 197, 
in trade and transportation 
pursuits, 63, 197. See also 
Hours 

Occupation: percentage in each, 
of women wage-earners in 
New York, 52, 53, 54, at- 
tending public evening 
school, 52, 53, 54 

Occupational Groups: not em- 
ploying evening school girls 
in some process, 57, 58 

Occupations: changing condi- 
tions in, for women, 170; 
classified according to group- 
ing adopted by Department 
of Labor, 47, 48; difficulty 
experienced in naming and 
classifying, 46, 47, 48; di- 
verse, among evening school 
pupils, 46-57, affecting prob- 
lem of industrial education, 
12, 135-140; facts concern- 
ing, significant for the 
schools, 57-60; main groups 
of, 35-37, 41 , outline of, 48- 
52; of girls who go to night 
school, 35, 38-60; of women 
attending public evening 



244 



INDEX 



schools, 54, 55, 56; type 
studies of, of women, 1 ; 
variety and range of, for 
women, 38, 170-172. See 
also IVomen's IVork 

Odencrantz, Louise C, 9 

Office Workers. See Clerks 
and Office IVorkers 

Opportunities in School and 
Industry for Children of 
THE Stockyards District, 
by Dr. Ernest L. Talbert, 
107 

Orthography: on record cards, 

32, 33 
Overtime: irregular attendance 

in evening school caused by, 

82. See also Hours of IVork 
Overwork: social consequences 

of, 61 

Packers. See Employes in 
Stores 

Paper-box Makers: average 
weekly earnings of, 97; 
hours of work of, 62, 204, 
207; women evening school 
pupils employed as, 95, 96, 
104, 105, 202-206, 208, 209 

Pafer-box Making: rank of, as 
occupation, according to 
number of women employed 
and number of workers at- 
tending public evening 
school, 54, 55, 56 

Pattern Making: taught in 
evening trade schools, 14 

Pittsburgh: women-employing 
trades in, 43 

Plastic Work Designing: 
taught in school of industrial 
art, 14 

Plumbing: taught in evening 
trade schools, 14 

Poles, 20 

Population: changing, affecting 
vocational education, 84, 85, 
87, 88; location of evening 
schools determined by char- 
acter of, 15-18 



Printing: taugnt in evening 
trade schools, 14 

Printing and Paper Goods 
Industry: hours of work in, 
77, 198; women evening 
school pupils employed in, 
49, 195, 200, 208, 209 

Professional Service: month 
in which women employed 
in, dropped out of evening 
school, 210, 211, 212; num- 
ber of women employed in, in 
New York, 41; occupations 
grouped under, 41; percent- 
age of wage-earning women 
in New York employed in, 
52, 53, 54, attending public 
evening school, 52, 53, 54; 
small number of workers in, 
attending evening schools, 
52; women evening school 
pupils employed in, 35, 46, 
86, 87, 89, 90, 93, 94, 98- 
I03» i77» '99» 201, propor- 
tion of married or widowed, 
29 

Progress. See School, Day 

Proofreaders and Copyhold- 
ers: attending public even- 
ing schools, 51 

Prosser, C. a., 1 16 

Pupils. See Schools 

Racial Make-up, 20, 21, 22; 
contrasts of, in elementary 
schools, affecting public 
school system, 18, 19; of the 
schools, 15-28. See also 
Nativity 

Racial Traits: persistence of, 
21 

Record Cards: form of, used in 
investigation, 186; per cent 
of, used in tabulation as 
compared with total register 
and average attendance, 6 

Records: importance of individ- 
ual, in evening schools, 217, 
218, 219, 220; memorandum 
regarding a system of even- 



245 



INDEX 



ing school, 213-228; present 
methods of keeping, in 
evening elementary schools, 
215, 216, in evening high 
schools, 216, 217; require- 
ments to be met by in- 
dividual, 219, 220; school, of 
attendance inaccurate, 150; 
system of advantages of a 
uniform, 214; system of, sug- 
gested, 220, (forms) 221, 
222, 223 , comments on, 224- 
228; use of the, 217 

Register: use of word, 5 

Registration: limitation of, 
requisite for industrial edu- 
cation, 141 

Report of the Massachusetts 
Commission on Industrial 
AND Technical Education, 
1906, 107 

Report of the Vocational 
Guidance Survey, byOliver 
P. Barrows, 107 

Report on Condition of 
Women and Child Wage- 
earners in the United 
States, 45, 59, 107, 173 

Retardation. See School, Day, 
Progress in 

Roumanians, 21, 22 

Russell Sage Foundation: 
Committee on Women's 
Work, 213-228 

Russians, 12, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 
24, 26, 64, 142 

RUTHENIANS, 20 

Saleswomen. See Employes in 
Stores; Trade and Trans porta^ 
Hon 

Scandinavians, 21, 22 

Sciences: taught in evening 
high school, 13 

School, Day: age at leaving, of 
women eveningschool pupils, 
102, 103, 104, 105, 200, 204, 
206; children leaving, be- 
tween fourteen and sixteen 
years of age, subject of 



special discussion by school 
authorities and investiga- 
tors, 105, 106; desirablity of 
placing in lower grades of, 
best teaching force available, 
113; families and economic 
conditions of girls leaving, 
under sixteen years of age, 
III, 112; grade reached at 
leaving, by women evening 
school pupils, 93-96, 177, 
178, 208, 209; information 
obtained in evening schools 
valuable as basis for voca- 
tional courses in, 113, 114; 
last, attended by women 
evening school pupils, 203, 
206; legal grade at which 
children over fourteen years 
old may leave, 91, 92, 93, 
course of study in, 92, 93; 
legislative amendment rais- 
ing grade at which children 
may leave, 91, 92, reduced 
number of work certificates 
issued, 177; not able alone 
to handle vocational train- 
ing, 88; number of pupils 
who had previously attended 
classes or schools since leav- 
ing, 33; previously attended 
by public evening school 
pupils, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90; 
progress in, of women even- 
ing school pupils, 98, 99; rea- 
sons for leaving, 106-113; 
seventh grade of, "mor- 
tality" grade, 105, 106; 
years of attendance at, of 
women eveningschool pupils, 
100, loi, 177, 201 

School System: effect of con- 
trasts in racial make-up on 
public, 18, 19; Manhattan 
Trade School for Girls made 
part of public, 1 18 

School, Type of: number by, of 
women eveningschool pupils, 
94, 195, 196 

Schooling: of wage-earning girls. 



246 



INDEX 



83-1 14; short period of, for 
women, 170, 175 
Schooling, Previous, of 
Women Evening School 
Pupils: age at which, 
ceased, 100, 102-105; con- 
ditions surrounding indus- 
trial training revealed by 
facts concerning, 84; foreign- 
born pupils in native land, 
2 1 ; grades reached in day 
schools in, 93, 94, as affect- 
ing employment in skilled 
occupations and wages, 95, 

97, 177, 178, 179, employed 
in different occupational 
groups, 93, 94, 95, 177, 178; 
important factor in de- 
termining needs of evening 
school pupils, 12; in diverse 
types of schools, 84-87; 
in foreign lands, 86, 87; in 
New York, 85, 86, 87. 88, 
90, 91 ; in other parts of the 
United States, 86, 87; last 
day school attended in 
foreign lands, 88, 89, in New 
York, 88, 89, in other parts 
of the United States, 88, 89; 
number of years of, 99, 100, 
loi, employed in different 
occupational groups, 99, 
100; progress made in, 97, 

98, 99, employed in differ- 
ent occupational groups, 98, 

99, See also School, Day 
Schools: basis for distinction be- 
tween "elementary" and 
"high," 13; definition of 
trade, 13; racial make-up 
of the, 1 5-28; visits made to, 
in securing data for investi- 
gation, 8. See also Attend- 
ance; Continuation Day 
Schools; Industrial Educa- 
tion; Manhattan Trade School 

Schools, Evening: advancement 
of foreign-born pupils in, 2 1 ; 
age of admission to, raised, 
80, 81; aims, needs, desires 



and aspirations of pupils in, 
10, 11; and the girls who 
attend them, 10-37; appeal 
primarily to wage-earners, 
36; attendance of, by girls 
under 16 deplorable, 175; 
card records in use in, a basis 
for study of industrial educa- 
tional needs, 140; cases cited, 
23-28, 123, 127, 128; char- 
acter and earnestness of 
pupils, 10, 11; compulsory 
attendance of, by boys under 
16 cruelty, 166; definite 
aims of pupils in, 29, 30; 
dressmaking class in, not 
planned to be vocational, 
127; eight- and twelve-year- 
old children in, 80; evening 
sessions handicap of, 142, 
165, 166; exclusion of 
children under sixteen years 
of age from, desirable, 166, 
167, 175; experiment of 
summer sessions for, sug- 
gested, 168; experiment sta- 
tions in vocational training, 
2, 3, 114, 115; function of, in 
scheme of vocational train- 
ing, 116; important factors 
in determining needs of 
pupils, 12; information ob- 
tained in, valuable as basis 
for vocational courses, 113, 
1 14; kind of instruction 
needed by foreign-born adult 
pupils in, 37; lack of stand- 
ardization of instruction in, 
1 1 ; location of, determined 
by character of population, 
15-18; more emphasis on 
clerical than on mechanical 
courses in, 54; non-wage- 
earning girls under sixteen 
in, 112, 113; non-wage-earn- 
ing women attending, 35, 36, 
37; number of, 2; oppor- 
tunity of, greater because of 
youth of pupils, 28; primary 
purpose of, 33, 34; problems 



247 



INDEX 



presented to educators by 
pupils of, II, 12; proportion 
of married or widowed 
wage-earning and non-wage- 
earning women in, 29; pur- 
pose of early, 33, 34, 35; 
reasons for attending, 30, 3 1, 
32, 33; reasons for leaving 
as given by pupils, (Table) 
158, 159, 160, not due to 
single circumstance, 1 57; 
records for, memorandum 
regarding a system of, 213- 
228, present methods of 
keeping, 215-217; relation 
of, to vocational training, 
115-141; separate classes 
for home arts and for trades 
in, desirable, 128, 129; small 
number employed in pro- 
fessional service attending, 
52; work affected by long 
hours of labor, 62, 63; work 
conditions affecting prob- 
lems of, 214, 218 

Schools, Evening Elementary: 
advanced courses taught in, 
when no high school is open 
in neighborhood, 14, 1 5; ages 
of pupils in, 28, 29; courses 
in, 14; entrance require- 
ments for, 13; method pur- 
sued in forming classes in, 
13; records in, present 
method of keeping, 215,216; 
term of, 1 1 

Schools, Evening High: ages 
of pupils in, 28; annexes of, 
in evening elementary school 
buildings recommended, 1 5 ; 
courses in, 13; entrance re- 
quirements for, 13; location 
of, 15, 16; number of, 15; 
records in, present method of 
keeping, 216, 217; term of, 
1 1 ; wider distribution of, 
recommended, 15 

Schools, Evening Trade: ages 
of pupils in, 28; courses in, 
14; extension of industrial 



courses for women in, 14; 
financial state aid given, in 
Massachusetts, 1 16; term 
of, I I 

Seasonal Unemployment: trade 
courses in supplementary 
work as a solution of, 124, 
129 

Shiels, Dr. Albert, 9, 82, 149, 
167,213 

Shirt, Collar, and Cuff Mak- 
ing: rank of, as occupation, 
according to number of 
women employed and num- 
ber of workers attending 
public evening school, 54, 

Shirtwaist Makers' Strike: 
evening school pupils lead- 
ers in, 23 

Shirtwaist Making Trade: 
hours of work in, 204, 207; 
women evening school pupils 
employed in, 105, 199, 202- 
206, 208, 209 

Shoppers. See Buyers and Shop- 
pers 

Shop Work: taught in evening 
elementary schools, 14 

Some Conditions Affecting 
Problems of Industrial 
Education in 78 American 
School Systems, by Leon- 
ard P. Ayres, 84 

Spaniards, 20 

Specialization: courses in Man- 
hattan Evening Trade 
School planned to meet need 
brought about by, 122; in 
women's work, 170 

Speed: increasing ill effect of 
long hours, 61, 62 

Stained Glass Designing: 
taught in school of industrial 
art, 14 

Standardization: lacking in in- 
struction, 1 1 

Statistics (Tables): ages of 
women attending Manhat- 
tan Evening Trade School, 



248 



INDEX 



133, public evening schools, 
29, by occupations, 199, 202, 
by occupations, at leaving 
day school, 102, 200, 204, (per 
cent) 206; attendance, 7, 
152, 153, 154. 190, 191, by 
months, 164, 165; day schools 
last attended, by occupa- 
tions, 203, (per cent) 206, 
previously attended, 86, 89, 
90; grade reached at leaving 
day school, 94, 96, by occu- 
pations, 208, (per cent) 209; 
hours of work, 68, 70, 75, 
77, 198, by occupation, 204, 
(per cent) 207; information 
presented in tables, 187, 188, 
189; months in which pupils 
dropped out of evening 
schools, 155, by ages, 210, 
211, 212, by occupations, 
210, 211, 212; nativity of 
fathers of pupils, 22, 192, 
by occupations, 202, (per 
cent) 205 ; nativity of pupils, 
21 , by occupations, 203, (per 
cent) 205; noon recess, 197; 
number of women included 
in report, 7; occupations of 
women attending Manhat- 
tan Evening Trade School, 
130, 131, public evening 
schools, 35, 49, 51, 53, 55, 
by schools, 194, 195, 196; 
progress made in day schools 
99; reasons for enrolling in 
evening school, 3 1 , for leav- 
ing day school, 109, for 
leaving evening school, 158; 
registration, 7, 190, 191; 
schools included in investi- 
gation, 7, 190, 191 ; wages of 
women attending Manhat- 
tan Evening Trade School 
by ages, 134; years of attend- 
ance at day school, loi; at 
high school, 201 

Steam Engineering: taught in 
evening trade schools, 14 

Stenographers and Book- 



keepers: hours of work of, 
74' 75. 76, 204, 207; women 
evening school pupils em- 
ployed as, 51, 104, 10$, 199, 
202-106, 209. See also 
Trade and Transportation 

Stenography: taught in evening 
elementary schools, 14, in 
evening high school, 13 

Stockkeepers: attending public 
evening schools, 5 1 . See also 
Employes in Stores 

Strike: evening school pupils 
leaders in shirtwaist makers' 
23 

Strikes: to shorten hours of 
work, 61 

Study. See Investigation 

Summer Classes: in English for 
foreigners, 11, 147 

Summer Sessions: for evening 
schools, 168 

Syrians, 16, 20 

Tailoring on Men's and Wom- 
en's Clothing: rank of, as 
occupation, according to 
number of women employed 
and number of workers at- 
tending public evening 
school, 54, 55, 56 

Talbert, Dr. Ernest L., 107 

Teachers: careful selection of, 
in Manhattan Trade School 
for Girls, 119, 120; desir- 
ability of placing most 
efficient in lower grades of 
day schools, 113; efficient, 
requisite for industrial edu- 
cation, 141; uninspiring, re- 
sponsible for irregular attend- 
ance at evening school, 142 

Teaching: efficient, a remedy for 
irregular attendance at even- 
ing school, 149, 164; women 
evening school pupils em- 
ployed in, 199, 209 

Telegraphers. See Trade and 
Transportation 



249 



INDEX 



Telephone Operators, See 
Trade and Transportation 

Term of Evening Schools, i i 

Textile Designing: taught in 
school of industrial art, 14 

Textile Industry: hours of 
work in, 71, 77, 198; women 
evening school pupils em- 
ployed in, 49, 104, 105, 196, 
199, 200, 208, 209 

Trade and Transportation 
Pursuits: explanation of oc- 
cupational group, 36; hours 
of work in, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 
70, 71,72,75, 174, 175.204, 
207; length of noon recess 
in, 63, 197; months in which 
women employed in, drop- 
ped out of evening school, 
210, 211, 212; number of 
women employed in, in 
New York, 40; occupa- 
tions grouped under, 41, 
outline of, 50, 51; percentage 
of wage-earning women in 
New York employed in, 52, 
53, 54; women evening 
school pupils employed in, 
29, 35, 46, 51, 86-90, 93, 94, 
99-103, 177, 178, 199, 201- 
206, 209 

Trade Schools. See Schools, 
Evening Trade 

Turks, 16, 20 

Type Studies: of occupations of 
women, i 

Typewriting: taught in evening 
elementary schools, 14, in 
evening high school, 1 3 

United States Bureau of 
Education: Bulletin No. 17, 
A Trade School for Girls. 
A Preliminary Investigation 
in a Typical Manufacturing 
City, Worcester, Massa- 
chusetts, 107 

United States Census: Earn- 
ings of Wage-earners, Manu- 
facturers, 95, 133; 1900, 



Special Reports, Occupa- 
tions, 41, 55, 60, 85; Popula- 
tion, 60 
University of the State of 
New York: Bulletin 535, 
Compulsory Education, 74 

Van Kleeck, Mary, i, 139 

Violations: of law regulating 
hours of work, 74, 79, 82 

Vocational: dressmaking class 
in evening school not 
planned to be, 127 

Vocational Courses: informa- 
tion obtained in evening 
schools valuable as basis 
for, in elementary day 
schools, 1 13, 1 14 

Vocational Training: day 
schools not able alone to 
handle problem of, 88; even- 
ing schools as experiment 
stations in, 114, 115; func- 
tion of evening schools as 
means of supplementary 
training in scheme of, 116; 
need of provision for, pre- 
sented in report of president 
of board of education, 179, 
180; problem of, affected by 
changing population, 84, 85, 
87, 88; relation of evening 
schools to, 1 1 5-14 1 ; scope 
of supplementary, for book- 
binders, 138, 139; study of 
present industrial educa- 
tional needs first step to- 
ward, 140; card records now 
in use in evening schools a 
basis for, 140; success of 
Manhattan Trade School 
for Girls indicates possible 
function of public evening 
school in, 135. See also In- 
dustrial Education 

Vocational Training, A Plea 
FOR, by Mary Flexner, 106 

Wage Law: minimum, passed by 
nine states, 182 



250 



INDEX 



Wage-earning Women: early 
beginning of career of, 170, 
172, 173; educational needs 
of, 34, 35; effect of child 
labor on future, 175; evening 
school pupils fairly repre- 
sentative of, 56, 57; evening 
schools appeal primarily to, 
36; percentage by occupa- 
tion of all, in New York, 52, 
53, 54, attending public 
evening school, 52, 53, 54; 
productive workers at home, 
42; proportion of married 
or widowed, in evening 
schools, 29 

Wage-earning Women, Non-: 
attending public evening 
schools, 35-37, 86, 89, 90, 
93, 94, 98, 99, 101, 102, 112, 
113, 199, 201, 210-212, pro- 
portion of married or wid- 
owed, 29 

Wages: of girls attending Man- 
hattan Trade School for 
Girls, 133, (Table) 134. See 
also Earnings 

Wall Paper Designing: taught 
in school of industrial art, 

14 

White Goods Trade: hours of 
work in, 204, 207; women 
evening school pupils em- 
ployed in, 104, 105, 199, 
202-206, 208, 209 

Widowed Pupils: proportion of 
wage-earning and non-wage- 
earning, in different occupa- 
tional groups, 29 

Women : early beginning of wage- 
earning career of, 170, 172, 
175; exploitation of workers, 
170; per cent of, wage-earn- 
ers in New York, 59, 60; 
short period of schooling for, 
'70» '75' success of, in di- 
verse occupations indicative 
of potential force, 59; type 
studies of occupations of, 1 ; 
variety and range of occu- 



pations for, 170-172. See 

also Girls 
Women and the Trades, by 

Elizabeth B. Butler, 43, 44, 

45 
Women Chain Makers: in 

England, 43 
Women Employing Trades: 

first general survey of, 43. 

See also Occupations 
Women in the Bookbinding 

Trade, by Mary Van 

Kleeck, I, 139 
Women's Clothing Industry: 

average weekly earnings in, 

97; hours of work in, 71, 77, 

198; women evening school 

pupils employed in, 49, 194, 

200, 208, 209 

Women's Work: changes in, 38, 
39, 40, 41-46, 170; confusion 
concerning, 42; field of, 
neither simple nor homogene- 
ous, 48; in city of mines and 
steel works, 43, 44, 45, 46; 
investigation of, by Depart- 
ment of Commerce and 
Labor, 45, 46; long hours of, 
170, 172, 174, 175; monotony 
of, 170-174; revolution in 
method of doing, 42; special- 
ized tasks in, 170. See also 
Occupations 

Woodwork Designing: taught 
in school of industrial art, 14 

Wooley, Helen T., 107 

Working Conditions. See In- 
dustrial Conditions 

Working Day and Week. See 
Hours of IVork 

Working Girl from the Ele- 
mentary School in New 
York, The, by Jessie B. 
Adams, 106 

Working on Hair Goods: rank 
of, as occupation, according 
to number of women em- 
ployed and number of work- 
ers attending public evening 



251 



INDEX 

school, 54, 55, 56; women Working on Silk Goods: rank 
evening school pupils em- of, as occupation, according 
ployed in, 105, 199, 208, 209 to number of women em- 
WoRKiNG ON Knit Goods: rank ployed and number of work- 
of, as occupation, according ers attending public evening 
to number of women em- school, 54, 55, 56 
ployed and number of work- 
ers attending public evening Years of Schooling. See 
school, 54, 55, 56 Schooling, Previous 



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